Dead
by I Changed My Pen Name
Summary: When Serena's nightmares begin to affect all aspects of her life, she sees one person to turn to: Tuxedo Mask. [A semi-darker take on season 1] [Being revised]
1. Chapter 1

**Sole Author's Note** : Set during the beginning. I used English dub names because that was the last one I watched, and I didn't want to make a fool of myself by messing up any Japanese formalities or aspects of the culture. I hope that doesn't impede your enjoyment of this fic. Also, I know when Usagi's birthday is - to age myself, the SNES game gave the sailor soldiers' info. at the end. Either way, just don't think too hard about any of that stuff. This is is all for fun.

I don't own these characters.

 _When Serena's nightmares begin to affect all aspects of her life, she sees one person to turn to: Tuxedo Mask._

 **Edited 3/19/17 - I figured the best way to clear up any confusion you guys had was to make things even more confusing! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Dead**

 **Chapter 1**

The rain was coming down in those persistent, stringing drops that make your bangs stick to your forehead. Serena Tsukino was currently in the form of her alter ego, Sailor Moon: Sworn Defender of Justice and All Things Good. But she didn't feel like much of a sworn defender lately, and the all things good part was iffy, too.

She was standing on the edge of a building overlooking the docks. Her hair, long blonde pigtails, blew carelessly in the wind, and she could feel the harsh zaps of the rain against her skin, even through her gloves. She could barely hear the waves crashing aggressively against the shoreline rocks, the distant clock tower chiming midnight, her ears instead assaulted with the constant, drumming sound of the drizzle.

The fight had gone about as well as was to be expected. Amy and Raye had thrown the red, busty monster for a loop when they'd attacked together, and somewhere in all of that chaos, Serena had been able to use her tiara to disintegrate the bitch.

After the monster was ash, Serena walked slowly over to the debris, dropped to her knees, and let the dust seep through her fingers.

"Sailor Moon, I'd be careful. The readings on that material show that it still possesses a great deal of dark energy," Sailor Mercury said before turning off her visor.

"Come on!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed. "We're running around killing these things, and we're not allowed to _revel_?"

"When you revel over another creature's demise, it attaches to you. It makes you look ugly," Sailor Mars said pointedly, and Serena wasn't surprised when she looked back and saw the priestess staring at her disapprovingly. She stood and spoke curtly.

"Our mission is to stop these things at any cost. I know you don't like the way I do things, but let's not pretend that your gloves are clean." To accentuate her point, she gestured to Mars's gloves, stained with soot after her fire attack.

Her eyes lit up. "It's hardly _my_ problem that I have to bust my ass to fight so you can get here in time. Need I remind you that _you_ were late! Honestly, it's one thing to be late to our meetings, but _we_ were out here _all alone_!"

Somewhere in her tirade, Serena feared she might have a point. The four teenage girls - and that's what they were in that moment, not Sailor Scouts, not superheroes, not anything special at all - were standing underneath the moon in the middle of the park, in the middle of the frisbee golf course. Alone.

Serena wanted to cry, and desperately. Nothing was going right. But for some reason the tears wouldn't come. Raye continued to stare at her defiantly.

"Where were you?"

Serena knew she couldn't lie, and the answer she gave wouldn't be what they wanted to hear.

She sighed. "I was trying to take a nap."

Raye's mouth dropped open in shock, and she heard what sounded like both Amy and Lita exhaling, Lita muttering, "Oh _shit._ "

Raye regained her composure fairly quickly. "We will see you at the meeting tomorrow afternoon, Sailor Moon." She made like she was going to leave, then turned back around. "That is, if you can wake up in time."

Raye left, and then Amy, sending an apologetic look by way of big blue eyes. "See you tomorrow, Sailor Moon."

Lita was last, and she slapped her on the back and told her not to worry about Raye, and then Serena was truly alone. She heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance, and she _hated_ thunder. But she didn't feel like walking home.

So she bounced around from building to building as the rain grew stronger and stronger and then she spotted them. At the docks. The seven men were all dressed in black. They were carrying crates from one boat to the next. She didn't know what they were exchanging exactly, but she knew it couldn't be good. Especially in weather like this.

Before she could even think about it, she had dropped down to the roof of the boat the men were coming out of.

"Anything I could help you boys with?" she said as commandingly as she could. She didn't have a lot of experience with non-magical monsters, but she felt like she needed to do something. Anything.

The rain had begun to dissipate. The men could see her outline at the very least. One of them let out a low whistle.

"Now, what's a pretty thing like you doing out in rain like this? How about you just head on home and get a good night's sleep, dearie."

Sailor Moon felt her face flush in indignation. "How dare you! I am Sailor Moon, and in the name of the moon, I shall punish you!"

Before she could even realize what she was doing, she jumped down to the dock and in one swift motion, she kicked the man in the face. Serena had never thought much of her physical prowess before, but he fell to the ground almost instantly and the two men beside him stepped back. It took her a moment to process what happened, when suddenly one of the guys yelled at her.

"You're a real fucking bitch, you know that?!"

Outrunning normal criminals proved to be only slightly less challenging than outrunning monsters from another dimension. She jumped over them, using the ropes to swing herself from boat to boat, but they were surprisingly nimble and kept up with her fairly well. She had just decided that she'd had enough running for the day when she felt a tug on her heel. She had been caught by an angry looking bald man with a scar around his right eye. She tried to kick him out of the way, but he refused to let go and clutched her ankle with such force that she let out a pained cry despite herself.

"I got her, boys," he said, and she felt herself being pulled down from the last ship was on. With a laugh, the man threw her down onto the dock.

"You think this is really Sailor Moon?" another man asked as he lit a cigarette. "The one that always saves the day?"

"Nah," someone else chimed in. "She has to be some little girl in costume playing pretend."

"Oooh, don't say little girl in costume or you'll get me all excited!"

"Keep it in your pants, Ringo!"

Serena, for her part, didn't take her gaze off of the scarred man. He noticed, and simply leered back.

"How did you get it?" Serena asked, and the man laughed. He pointed at his eye.

"This old thing? I got it in a brawl. You should see the other guy." He leered even more. "Why? You digging it?"

Serena laughed this time. "No, no. As a matter of fact I was trying to study it so that I could give you a match."

At the stunned silence, Serena took her opportunity and ran, this time further on to the pier, out to the edge of the water, which wasn't exactly the smartest move, and she was looking back at the men chasing her, wondering why she had decided to do any of this in the first place when she tripped on one of the crates, causing its lid to break off and its contents to spill out. Bags of white powder. Drugs. Or at least that's what Serena assumed because it wasn't exactly her area of expertise.

The first to approach her reached out to grab her, and, without thinking she picked up the lid of the crate and slammed it against the side of his face. She heard his nose crack and saw a spatter of blood before she felt a hand grab around her waist. She slammed her foot down hard and the hand let go. She continued to force her way through the remaining men, pulling no punches.

The last one awaiting her was scar Joe and he was smiling. She smiled back before dropping low and kicking his feet out from under him. She slammed the crate lid onto his bald head, and the lid shattered, leaving a still, bleeding man before her.

Without even knowing what to do, Serena dropped the crate lid pieces into the water. She then went home.

* * *

When she stepped into her bedroom window, a black ball of fur greeted her immediately.

"Serena!" her cat/mentor, Luna demanded. "Do you know what time it is? Do I need to remind you that—"

The cat paused from where she had been approaching the young sailor scout, and slowly lifted a paw to touch the girl's skirt. "Serena?" She now sounded thoroughly confused. "Is that… Is that _blood_?"

"It's fine, Luna," Serena said, swatting the paw away. "It's not anything to worry about."

"Not anything to worry about?!" Luna exclaimed. "You look terrible. If you need to go to the hospital, hurry, de-transform, and I'll go scratch your parents' faces and wake them up!"

Serena simply yawned and sat down in front of her window, removing her Sailor Moon boots. "I don't need to go to the hospital." And then, to Luna's shock, Serena left her room as Sailor Moon and walked into her bathroom.

Luna followed hurriedly after her, and once the door was shut, she spoke as calmly as she could. "Serena, what are you doing? It's not safe to walk around in your sailor suit. You must keep your identity a secret from your family, for their safety even more than yours."

Serena scoffed. "Oh, please, Luna," she said. "What time does it have to be? 3 am? No one's awake in this house." She began adjusting the faucets and turned the shower on, stepping in wearing full Sailor Moon regalia.

"Why are you doing that?" Luna hopped onto the bathroom counter. Serena sighed.

"Because this blood isn't mine. And I wasn't sure if it would go away when I de-transform."

"The sailor suit only repairs itself after battles with youma," Luna said slowly, like Serena didn't already know that. She began scrubbing at a particularly tough stain around her shoulder. "Serena…" Her cat pleaded, and it was a weird tone to hear from her, "Tell me you weren't hurt. Did… did _men_ do this to you?"

Serena had been expecting Luna to berate her, not look at her with worry. "I said don't sweat it. It was a bunch of guys down by the docks."

"The docks?! At this hour? How did you wind up there?"

Serena turned the faucet off and stepped out of the shower. She closed her eyes and felt a magical weight remove itself from her, and she knew she was back to normal, back to her schoolgirl uniform.

"I don't know how I wound up there, but I guess I did," she said, leading the way back to her bedroom. As she closed the door, she turned off her lamp, the only source of light now coming from the moon shining through her window as raindrops continued to splatter against it.

"So that's what happened, then? You ended up at the docks with some men who were looking for trouble?" Luna sounded completely unconvinced, and Serena chuckled.

"Really it was more the other way around." Serena didn't think it was possible for a cat to gape, but that she did. "Shut your mouth, it was fine. I just needed to let off some steam."

Serena slid into bed, not even bothering to change into her pajamas. Luna obediently jumped up on the edge of the bed, giving herself a good stretch before curling up. "And you're sure you're all right, Serena?"

"Yes, Luna, I'm fine. I was just stressed is all. Raye really made me mad," she lied, deciding she needed some kind of excuse for her behavior. If Luna suspected the fib, she said nothing. After giving Serena one last thoughtful look, she nodded and then went to sleep. Serena could hear the soft murmur Luna gave off, and tried to sleep as well. But every time she closed her eyes, it happened.

 _The Dream._

And every time it got close to that dreaded part, she would open her eyes quickly, feeling a cold sweat on her neck. Resigning herself to another sleepless night, she chose instead to stare out her window, and she did, until the moonlight changed into the orange rays of morning.

* * *

Raye, Lita, and Amy were gathered around the table at Raye's temple, prepared for their meeting, which had been given an abrupt schedule change early in the morning by Luna.

"It figures that Serena's not here," Raye said as she poured her guests tea. "She can barely make it on time to normal meetings and now we're supposed to be here an hour earlier? My money's on her not showing at all."

"I think you're being a little unfair, Raye. We all have things we need to do, so any of us could have missed the message and gotten behind," Amy said diplomatically, whilst glancing at a pile of books next to her as if she were letting them down by not reading them.

"I, for one, hope Serena shows up because I've brought enough food to feed an army!" Lita said cheerfully, opening the white bag next to her and pulling out what appeared to be trays and trays of food.

"Ha! You weren't kidding!" Raye said, eyeing the food with a smile. "Now we'll have something to hold over Serena's tardy little head."

"Serena is not tardy," a voice interrupted the girls, and they turned to see Luna scampering into the room. She jumped on to the table and looked at the three girls before her. "I asked you all to come an hour earlier so that we may discuss Serena's concerning actions."

"You mean the fact that she's a ditzing out on battles, right?" Raye asked, and the cat shook her head.

"No, I mean the fact that she came home last night covered in blood because, in her words, she was looking for trouble and beat up a group of hoodlums at the docks."

"No!" Amy said with wide eyes.

"I guess it was weird that she was looking at the monster dust," Lita said. "I didn't think about it before."

"Hey, that's right! And last night, Raye, when you asked Serena why she was late, do you remember what she said?" Amy asked.

"She said she was napping." Raye scoffed.

"No, she said she was _trying_ ," Amy corrected.

"Good point!" said Lita. "Since when has Serena had trouble sleeping?"

"For the past week or so, I would wager," Luna said. "I've been feeling the bed shift during the night when she gets out of it."

"So, what, you think Serena's acting weird because she can't sleep?" Raye asked.

"She hasn't been her normal chipper self lately, that's true," Amy mused and a troubled look flitted across her face

"I don't know why Serena's been acting the way she has, but I have a feeling that approaching her about it would not go well. That is why I've set up this meeting," Luna said.

"Do you think it could have anything to do with the Negaverse?" Lita asked.

"I've not felt any Negaverse vibes from her, but we can't discount anything."

"I will check with the fire later," Raye said.

"Now I did tell you this, girls, so that you may help Serena; make her feel better and support her, no matter what her problem may be!"

The girls then discussed what they could do for Serena. Amy suggested helping her with homework, Lita said she would teach her to make her favorite food, and then Raye proclaimed they were really stupid, and what Serena really needed was someone to buy her the new _Sailor V_ manga.

* * *

Serena was sitting on the bench at the park, watching the frisbee golf players with heavy eyes. She felt like someone had put a curse on her, and she would never be able to sleep again. Even as she stared at the place where the last attack took place, she felt barely anything at all. There were people hiking up trails on the cliffs. There was a playground over the hill, children laughing. Nothing.

Serena had skipped the last couple of her classes for the day, knowing that class would make her tired and she wouldn't be able to sleep. It was like having an itch she couldn't scratch. So, without even thinking about, she found herself on a bench. The sun on her face felt nice, and she lifted her head up to appreciate its warmth.

Her eyes were closed when she hear a familiar voice behind her.

"What's going on, Meatball Head?"

Serena opened her eyes and looked at the tall form of Darien Shields, a thorn in her side since the day they met. She contemplated a retort before sighing. It would be too much work. She returned her face to sky.

"What are you trying to do, fall asleep sitting up?"

Serena didn't look at Darien when she responded. "Maybe. I think that sounds kind of nice."

"Only a meatball brain like you would think that," Darien concluded, but his tone didn't sound teasing so much as confused. He went on, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in the arcade," Serena said, "drinking coffee and being moody?"

Darien laughed at that. "All right, Serena, you got me. I'll leave you alone." She could hear the footsteps walking past, and she decided to open one eye and ensure that the nuisance was really gone.

When she realized he was, she decided to sprawl across the bench. She knew a nap was out of the question (though she so desperately, desperately needed one) but she knew that the sun might feel nice on her thighs. She did, of course, have an hour before the scout meeting started, so there was no need to rush.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Serena walked the stairs up to Raye's temple, and was surprised everyone was already gathered, Luna included. She furrowed her brows. "I thought I was early."

"As a matter of fact, you are, Meatball Head," Raye said. "By a whole five minutes. I'm pretty impressed."

Serena sat down and rolled her eyes. "Thanks for your support, Raye."

"Hey, Serena, look at all the snacks I brought!" Lita said happily. Serena did have to give a small smile; Lita _did_ always have the best snacks. She took a handful – a small portion by usual Serena standards – but Lita's smile widened.

"All right, girls, I suppose you've been wondering about the nature of this meeting," Luna said. The girls all nodded.

"Well first thing's first. I've noticed monsters attacking with much more frequency. I'm not entirely sure what that says about the Negaverse's mission, but it means that we have to be all the more vigilant in our fighting. I know you girls didn't sign up for this, but you must know that this is your destiny, and everything will be all right as long as we stick together. I wanted to emphasize that.

"The second matter I have to discuss is far more troubling, I'm afraid. I've received a vague warning from Central Control that something _big_ has happened and that we are to keep our guard up for anything or anyone that may seem suspicious."

Luna tried not to let the irritation seep into her voice. She was clearly underwhelmed by the warning.

"'Something big?' Did Central have any information on what exactly we are supposed to be on the lookout for?" Amy asked, accurately gauging the feline's mood.

"I'm afraid not. Central Control, for the first time I've known them, did not delve into specifics. But when they mentioned suspicious persons, I will admit that one came to mind."

"Tuxedo Mask?" Raye inquired. "He's done nothing but help us. Especially Meatball Head over there. Without him, we'd be dead."

"I agree with Raye's assessment," Amy said. "He has shown nothing but interest in protecting us, most especially Sailor Moon."

"But let's think about that," Lita said. "He focuses on Sailor Moon. How come? Is it because she has the most powerful magic? What does he get out of aiding us, anyway?"

Raye rolled her eyes at Serena being described as the most powerful, but Luna nodded. "Lita is echoing my sentiments. Just because he has shown no outright hostility towards us does not mean he's on our side. And frankly, I find it very disconcerting that he is so involved with Sailor Scout business when we know absolutely nothing about him. How does he know where we fight? These are the things that concern me, and that is why I urge you girls to maintain your distance from him for the time being."

"That sounds fair enough," Raye said. She then turned to Serena, who had been thoughtfully chewing on cake while the others spoke. When she realized the others turned to her too, she swallowed and sighed.

"I trust him," she said simply. "His actions prove he doesn't want to hurt any of you guys."

"Serena," Luna spoke softly, yet with a sense of urgency. "I understand that he has helped you in many battles. But will you at least concede his need for secrecy is alarming?"

"No, Luna, I will not," Serena said forcefully to their mentor. "His need for secrecy is the same as you telling me not to walk around the house in my sailor suit. Fighting monsters is dangerous, too, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was in our shoes and just found himself being a sailor scout with roses."

"When you put it like that, it sounds a little depressing," Raye said as she reached across the table to grab a snack.

"That is a possibility, Serena," Luna said, "and not one that I'm discounting at all. I'm just saying if there's even the slightest chance that he's dangerous, we should be alert, should we not?"

Serena just gave the cat a glare.

"Maybe we might feel more inclined to trust Tuxedo Mask if we were to gather more information about him," Amy suggested, and Raye chuckled.

"And just how are we supposed to get anything from him? He always disappears after every battle like a ghost."

"I'm not so sure about that. Maybe if Serena batted her eyelashes at him, he'd tell her his life story," Lita said with a smirk, and Serena felt her face heat up while the girls chuckled.

"You're all jerks."

"So what? We've already established you're his fav!" Lita said, and the girls laughed again. Serena stood. She hadn't realized she was so protective of Tuxedo Mask – or of his secrecy, but he was her hero, as cliché as it was, and as stupid as the girls thought it was, but damn it, he was totally good and it wasn't her fault that the others couldn't see it.

"I take it those were all your notes for this meeting, Luna?"

"Well, yes, but –"

"Great. I'm done now." Serena went for the door and heard all the other girls gathering their things. She had made it to the street when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. It was Raye.

"Thought you could get rid of us so easy?"

"That's right. We have an awesome day of shopping ahead of us, and you're going to join us, kid," Lita proclaimed. Serena turned to Amy, hoping she would be a saving grace. Instead she just gave a small smile and shrugged.

"It sounds fun to me."

* * *

The girls walked down an empty street filled with puddles, underneath a gray, overcast sky. They were walking to a fancy grocery store with a fancy French name that Serena could barely pronounce, all at Lita's insistence. She was going to buy the best ingredients for the best dinner that she was going to cook for Serena that night.

Serena had figured out pretty quickly that this shopping excursion was for her benefit. She didn't exactly know what the girls thought was wrong with her, but she had to admit, she was having fun. When she had stopped at the comic book shop with Raye and ran her finger along a page in the newest _Sailor V_ manga, she admitted to always dreaming that someday she could become her. Of course, in retrospect, it kind of sucked.

Raye laughed and said, "Kind of sucks is putting it mildly."

Her next detour had been from Amy, who had taken her to this cool paper shop where they sold beautiful parchment and gorgeous pens. Amy had insisted on buying Serena this lovely pink parchment with a rabbit in the corner. Serena had tried to fight it, but all Amy said was, "Consider it an early birthday present."

Now it was Lita's turn, and Serena _was_ interested in what she was going to pick out. However, as they walked up to the grocery store – really a shop with a glass door surrounded by green painted frames, the girls froze.

"I think we should change," said Raye.

"Right with you there," Lita said.

Serena could see through the window that a blue, wolf-like creature with a voluptuous figure was twirling her tail and sucking all the energy she could from the people inside. And then the wolf looked straight at her and she knew what was coming.

"Get down!" Serena shouted, pushing the three girls in front of her to the ground. She heard the glass shatter, and she felt searing pain. But none of that mattered now. She stood up quickly and saw the other girls had already transformed. She put her hand up and declared, "Moon Prism Pow-" before being cut off by Amy.

"Serena, you're _injured_ ," she said, and Serena looked at her body. On her right hip, a very large piece of glass was wedged into it, and on her left side a smaller, albeit a much bigger shard than you would want to be stabbed with, was also sticking out.

"Yeah, Sailor Moon, I think you're going to have to sit this one out," Raye said.

"Are you girls going to bite or not, because right now this hunt is very boring," the monster declared, and then, with a swing of her tail, she hit Sailor Mercury right in the face, sending her to the opposite side of the street and straight into a parked car whose alarm instantly started blaring. Serena felt the adrenaline pumping against her skull.

"I don't care what you think, Sailor Mars, but it's time for me to fight." And then Serena looked down at the glass and pulled out the left one, hissing, then the right, dropping the blood-stained pieces to the ground.

"Holy shit," Lita said with wide eyes. But this time, when Serena transformed, no one stopped her.

The wolf-creature threw out her tail again, but Sailor Jupiter quickly said, "Jupiter Thunder!" and her shock sent the cat back a few feet.

"Oh, now I'm really ready to make you my prey," the monster growled.

"Good," Serena replied, "because so am I! _Moon Tiara Magic_!" she exclaimed and then with a flick of her wrist she sent the tiara spiraling toward the creature. The monster let out a distinctive wail of pain before Serena caught the tiara when it came back. It did not destroy the creature, although it was visibly shaken.

"What?" Serena said, looking down at the tiara in her hand with dismay. "It's supposed to work every time."

"Hey, Sailor Moon, don't forget you're losing gallons of blood by the sec, okay? That might just impact your powers."

Serena turned around to Raye, who was on the other side of the street, helping Mercury to her feet. She looked down at her Sailor Suit, which was already stained with the blood from her sides.

"That's right, Sailor Moon," Amy said. "Those gashes could be potentially fatal. You should be at the hospital."

"I'm not going to any hospital," she declared. "Not until this trash is dealt with." And then she turned back toward the monster, which appeared to be catching its breath. Sailor Jupiter came and stood beside her.

"I'm not sure if what Sailor Moon's doing is brave or stupid, but I do know that Luna just said that we needed to stick together, and that's what I'm going to do."

Raye and Mercury looked at each other, seemingly deciding there was no way Serena was going to leave without finishing the battle. Mercury went over to Sailor Moon's side while Mars went next to Jupiter, muttering, "Can't she be brave _and_ stupid?"

The monster stood up and laughed at the girls. "How cute! A game of cat and mouse!"

"Truly." Amy exclaimed, "Mercury Bubbles!" and suddenly a mist surrounded them all.

"Hey, where'd you little brats go?" the monster asked. They had in fact split onto opposite sides of the grocery's doorway.

Raye said " _Mars Fire_!" and the monster let out a screech of pain. "Hurry, Sailor Moon, try to hit now!"

Serena lifted her tiara and said in the loudest, angriest voice she could, "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" She knew just by how bright her tiara glowed as it made its way to the wolf that it would soon be just another pile of dust. When she caught the tiara and placed it back on her head, a slight dizzy spell struck her. She didn't know if it was from the use of strong power, or the bleeding wounds, or said pain from her wounds, which now started to feel blinding.

The girls were all at her side immediately. It was dark now. "De-transform," Raye said, "and we'll go with you to the hospital."

"No," Serena said firmly. "I will go to the hospital myself." It was not true; she did not plan to go at all. She did not need to be poked and prodded and checked over like a lab monkey. Not when she felt so tired. It was too much work. She knew she could heal on her own; she'd done it tons of times.

"Why?" Raye demanded. "Why are you being so stubborn?"

Serena almost laughed at the irony of Raye saying that, but laughing didn't seem possible when she was putting all her effort into just standing up.

"Come on, Serena, let us take you," Lita said in a soft, concerned voice.

"I'm going to tell the hospital that I was hurt in a monster attack. How will it look if a whole group of girls who look like Sailor Scouts come with me?" Serena asked, and Raye and Lita did give each other glances like she had a point.

"Serena, our magic protects us from being identified. But I will give you that it may not be wise for all of us to go with you. How about just me?" Amy asked. "You might need help walking—"

"No! I don't want to be treated like a fucking baby! Let me go on my own, jeez!" Serena exclaimed and all the girls looked at her in shock. "You've been babysitting me all day and it's annoying! Just go away!" Serena wasn't sure what part of her brain let that out, and if she really believed it or not. She just couldn't think at all, really.

Raye was the first to turn to leave and she gave a peace sign. "Let us know how it goes, Serena." And then she walked towards some bushes where Serena knew she would de-transform.

Jupiter followed, calling over her shoulder, "We weren't babysitting you, you know!"

Amy stood there the longest before sighing. "I know I can't change your mind with statistics or anything, and I don't know if you're embarrassed about being our leader and being hurt, but do remember you _protected_ us. If you feel faint on your walk to the hospital, please, use your communicator to contact me or the other girls immediately."

And then Amy was gone, too, and Sailor Moon stood there feeling confused about what to do now. Would she get in trouble for passing out in front of a shop? She _was_ a superhero, after all. She heard the door to the store shut, and she saw who was presumably the owner lock the completely shattered doors. She pressed against the wall, but the man walked the other way, whistling all the while. The wolf must've not done much damage to the people; that was good.

She walked on the sidewalk a bit, each step feeling like absolute torture, and she was seeing stars. _Come on, girl_ , she told herself, _get your act together._ She slapped herself across the face a few times and then did a few arm circles, which hurt so badly that she let out a hiss as she did them. Her next move was to reach her arms behind her back and interlace her fingers. That one actually pleasantly stretched her muscles and she leaned into it before finding herself on the ground. Her head ached from the hitting the concrete, but what was more concerning was the tight pressure on her fingers.

She watched in horror as she was pulled from the sidewalk onto the street, which fortunately wasn't a deep fall, and she passed the car Amy had hit earlier. She had made quite a dent in the side; why wasn't she talking about hospitals, hmm?

Serena was feeling dizzy and weak and extremely angry. She tried to break the clasp of her hands, but the hand, she definitely felt a palm, holding them was too strong. Or she was too dizzy and weak. And angry.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are—" she began as she tilted her head up to get a glimpse at her captor, but then she stopped. All she saw was a gloved hand holding hers, a cape, a top hat.

" _Tuxedo Mask_ ," she breathed. But then she felt angry again. "What the hell are you doing?"

She saw the familiar sights of a brick wall, and a garbage bag, and a large – _EWWW!_ – rat. Tuxedo mask had pulled her into an alleyway. She thought how fervently she defended him just hours before and now felt stupid. He dropped her hands and her head slightly hit the ground again. She didn't know whether it was the damn gashes or head-into-concrete method Tuxedo Mask had used but she felt too dizzy and strained to sit up, though she moved her hands to her sides.

She looked over at Tuxedo Mask who was just standing there, inspecting her underneath filthy alley lights.

"What are you gonna do now? Eat me?" Serena asked, then blushed because for some reason her mind chose then to go to a bad place.

Tuxedo Mask, for his part, did seem a little bemused. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"Earlier today I was warned you could be dangerous."

Tuxedo Mask came closer to her and crouched on one knee. "Who told you I was dangerous?" he asked without a flicker of emotion.

"My mentor," Serena said. "And the other girls agreed with her!"

Tuxedo Mask began sliding his hand down her side facing him, stopping at the large red stain. Serena, for her part, was blushing madly while also wanting to scream out from the pain of being touched there. "But you were on my side," he said, while reaching over and running his hand along her other side, causing the same sensations in Serena.

"Yeah, before I knew you liked to _kidnap_ girls! Actually, now that I think about it, I should've known that before."

And then Serena heard the strange sound of Tuxedo Mask chuckling. "In all actuality," he said, in a less dry voice than he usually used, "you fell over before I could get to you, so I decided dragging you here was the easiest thing to do. I thought you were passed out. So, if anything, I Iike dragging girls around."

Serena realized this was the most she and Tuxedo Mask had ever really talked. Getting a peak behind his mask was interesting.

"You probably drag girls around all the time."

"Just you. Feel special," he replied as he began to search around in his jacket for something.

"Are you really a bad guy?" she asked.

Tuxedo Mask pulled his cane out. "I don't really believe in the black and white."

Serena didn't know what he meant. "Nice fashion choices then," she said, and he chuckled again. Then he began to slide his cane up Serena's thigh. She felt the anger burst out of her once more, and when the cane lifted up her skirt she propped herself up on her elbows. "Just what the _hell_ do you think you're doing?! Get your damn hands off me right now before I make you moondust!" She reached for her tiara, while Tuxedo Mask pressed his thumb at the spot where his cane and the top of her skirt met. And then he ripped her skirt off in one motion.

Serena felt exposed in her leotard and she felt confused as hell. "What the fuck are you doing?!" she cried. Tuxedo Mask then stepped so that he was standing over her, one foot on each side of her body. He was folding the skirt into a rectangle and Serena wondered if he was going to smother her. He then placed his hand under her back and gently lifted her body up. Serena's face was going to be an eternal blush now because that hand and the arch of her back was always going to be in her memories.

"I'm sorry, Sailor Moon, but this may hurt a bit," he said, and he pulled the fabric tightly against her back, then slowly removed his hand so she was on the ground again. And then he pulled the fabric tightly against her front, causing her to cry out in pain. When the skirt was tied around her so tightly that it felt like a corset, Tuxedo Mask stepped off and then seemed to appreciate his work. "I really could make a tourniquet out of anything."

"What the hell's a tourniquet? Serena mumbled, back to lying on the ground because the pressure was insane.

"Something you needed, and, from what I could gather from watching you girls argue, you wouldn't get."

"You watched us? The whole battle? And you didn't help us out?"

"When I got here, you seemed to have it under control. Mercury did her mist bubbles. All was well."

"Yeah, well, thanks for not helping us out, thanks for the kidnapping and the wrap thing, thanks for being not-a-black-and-white guy," Serena said as she pulled herself up onto wobbly legs. "But I think I'm going to head home."

"I think you should rest here," Tuxedo Mask said. "I know this alley. Get some sleep. I'll watch and wake you up before anyone comes."

Serena wanted to laugh at Tuxedo Mask's mentioning of both sleep and babysitting, two touchy topics right now. But she didn't. Instead she said, "Until we meet again, Tuxedo Mask." And then she got to be the one who left in the night, all mysteriously.

* * *

She was actually feeling better; she should probably thank Tuxedo Mask at some point for his "tourniquet" or whatever. She was able to jump fairly easily and made it back to her house. This time, she stepped into the window with some trepidation, fearing the words she would get when Luna saw her.

But Luna wasn't there.

"Luna?" she called. She looked in her closet. She even looked in her drawers. It was true that Luna sometimes slept in other rooms, but she always stayed in Serena's room until she got back. She was in the process of looking under her bed when a voice asked, "What are you looking for?"

"My ca—" Serena stopped and popped her head up quickly. Tuxedo Mask was in her windowsill. Tuxedo Mask was in her house. _Tuxedo Mask was in her house_.

"Get out!" she shouted, horrified. He knew where she lived. He could figure her out. She looked around for any defining proof it was her, but her school uniform was under her suit, and she wasn't really the type to win awards. She looked on her wall and saw a picture of Molly and quickly pulled it down and crumpled it up and threw it to the ground. Tuxedo Mask stepped into her room fully.

"Sailor Moon, I would like to speak with you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I said get out!"

"I would rather we have this discussion without your parents waking up, if you could be a bit more quiet," Tuxedo Mask said.

Serena paled. "You know I have parents?"

Tuxedo Mask smirked. "Most people do. And I saw two cars parked in the drive."

"One of those could be mine, you know!" she said with a huff.

"That's true," Tuxedo Mask said. He then looked at the dresser he was standing next to and grabbed a stuffed bunny from the top. "Only, I gather you're rather young."

"You don't know anything about my age! And you shouldn't! You shouldn't be here! This is my space!"

"Sailor Moon, I assure you, I'm not here to get your identity. I don't know this neighborhood. I will never remember this house. Magic keeps me from seeing you as a person. I don't know you, and I don't want to. We all have to keep our secrets, for our safety and our sanity."

He sounded sincere. _What an asshole_ , Serena thought. She sighed and plopped down onto the edge of her bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"How amusing your room is," he responded.

She glared at him. Since when did he _joke_? "Oh, yeah, well, I bet if I saw your room I would think it was totally boring!"

"Probably," he said easily, and then, to Serena's horror, he strode the length of the room and sat down next to her. Their knees were almost touching. She felt that stupid blush again. "I wanted to talk to you about two things, two things you'd probably prefer not to discuss."

"Then _why_ do we have to discuss them?" she asked, not without bite.

"First of all," he started like she had said nothing, "your assertiveness this evening struck me as odd, and I was wondering if you were alright."

"Sorry I can't be a stupid doormat all the time."

"I'm not saying that you need to be a _doormat_ , I'm saying that shifts in behavior usually indicate that something is going on. If you need help with anything, you can ask me."

Serena was alarmed by what he was offering. It was almost an extension of friendship, if you squinted. But she didn't need any more pity. "Shifts in behavior, you say? Like the way _you've_ been acting weird all night? Seriously, Mr. Mask, this is the most we've ever spoken."

"I guess I was just trying to lighten your mood," he said. "I could feel your anger."

"You could _feel_ my anger?"

Tuxedo Mask stared at her for a moment before saying, "Yes, I could feel it rolling off of you. And you seemed less afraid."

"Well, everyone bags on me for being afraid, and now that I'm not, it's suddenly some crisis?!"

"So the other scouts have noticed, too."

"I don't know, but I'm tired of everyone trying to help me. I know you usually do help me, in battles and stuff, and I appreciate it. But I don't really need it for this, okay? I'll figure shit out."

"If you insist." He paused. "It's strange hearing you curse."

Serena frowned. "I can say whatever I want."

"Yeah, but…" and then Tuxedo Mask leaned on his elbows to pick up a star pillow with a smiley face from Serena's vast pillow collection, and he held it up proudly, a smirk on his usually blank face.

Serena chuckled. "You look like such a dork right now."

He sat upright. "I'm not a dork. I was merely making an observation."

"What else did you want to talk about?"

Serena saw Tuxedo Mask's face get serious. "This is very important. You have to promise to listen to me and do as I say even though it may annoy you."

Suddenly, Serena remembered that she didn't really know this strange man. "I don't want to promise anything until I know what you want."

"I am more than asking you to. Consider it a favor. In return, I'll do something for you."

"Like never come to my room again?"

"Well, I wasn't planning to …" Tuxedo Mask started before looking at the pillow in his lap and then tossing it around in the air. "But this little guy's pretty fun."

"Stop messing with my stuff!" Serena grabbed the pillow and held it against her chest, her mind for some reason chanting _This was near Tuxedo Mask's crotch!_

"I need you to clean your wounds with antiseptic ointment in the morning," Tuxedo Mask said, and then he rambled on and on about how to know if the wounds were infected, and how to tell they were healing properly, how she should consider getting stitches, what signs to look out for if she needed to go to the hospital.

It was all very boring by Serena standards, but she could grant that it was good advice, and she would follow it. Tuxedo Mask seemed relieved at that, and told her from his inspection, the wounds weren't fatal. Serena almost told him that she already knew that, but didn't.

She walked him back to her window. "Thanks for all the help tonight. And making jokes! I'm sure that was a real pain for you."

He gave a slight smile. "I wanted to thank you, as well."

"Oh, really?" Serena asked. "What for?"

"Number one, giving me the nickname Mr. Mask, which I think I'll use from now on."

"You'll be the only one calling yourself that."

"And number two, for thinking that I wasn't dangerous." He shook his head. "I'm not sure I would've done the same, but that was the optimist in you. I'm glad she's still around."

Serena didn't know what to say, so she just patted him awkwardly on the arm. "Goodnight, Mr. Mask."

"Goodnight, Miss Moon," he said, and then he was gone.

* * *

The next day at school, she was approached by Amy during their first passing period. "Serena," she said breathlessly, like she had run to her from the other side of the hallway. "Are you okay?"

Lita came over as well. "So you didn't die, huh?" she said with a smirk.

"Yes, I'm okay, and no, I didn't die. But I do have a hell of a story to tell you. Do you guys wanna ditch?"

Lita shrugged but Amy looked like Serena just suggested they burn the school to ground.

"Amy," Serena said. "Trust me; you'll want to hear this story." And then she lifted her shirt up slightly, showing the Sailor Scout skirt she had cleaned and reapplied.

"Is that … is that from your Sailor uniform?"

"Yes, it's the skirt, and if you guys wanna hear who ripped it off me, you better come with."

"Oh, I can already guess!" Lita laughed. "I told you, you're his fav!"

Amy blushed. "Tuxedo Mask …?"

"Just come on," Serena said, and she led the girls out to the greens. They all sat down, and she regaled them with the story … with some slight omissions. She fainted on the way to the hospital. She left out the part about him dragging – instead she said she was carried. She made it sound like he told her the skirt ripping would happen in advance. ("Oh, he dressed your wounds properly, that's fantastic," Amy said. "Yeah, but is your skirt still on your scout uniform?" Lita asked. "Totally. I checked and I look like the same old me."). She left out the part where she told him about the other girls distrusting him. She left out the part about him being in her room at all; instead, she made it sound like all of it happened in the alley. She left out the fact that he was a dork, but still told them some of his sarcastic remarks, and she said when she left the alley, he thanked her for the new nickname, Mr. Mask.

When she was finished, the other girls were grinning. "He gave you such apt medical advice. I can't believe he was knowledgeable on the subject," Amy said. "You were fortunate he found you."

"He was probably stalking her like prey and had a field day when she fainted! I mean, ripping your skirt? Jeez Louise," Lita said.

"I still can't believe he was making jokes," Serena said. "He said it had something to do with my anger, that he could feel it."

"He was trying to assuage your anger."

"If that means that he was trying to make you feel better, I agree with Amy," Lita said. "I mean, it seemed to have worked, right? You were smiling the whole time you told this story. And let's face it; you have been kind of grumpy lately."

"Have I?" Serena asked. Her friends remained silent, and she felt the spark of agitation in her gut. "If I have, so what? Why am I not allowed to do what I want? I want to be the same old me, too, but I can't, because that's just not my life anymore."

Amy and Lita both looked at her with sympathetic smiles. "I guess I could get that," Lita said.

"I'm sorry if I made you guys feel bad last night."

"Don't worry about it, Serena, we were surrounding you! You probably felt ambushed," Amy said.

"Yeah, and you made some solid points, so we're all cool," Lita agreed.

"How mad do you think Raye is?" Serena asked, a grin appearing on her face of its own accord.

"On the Raye scale of normal to complete disassociation, she's probably a 3 at most," Amy said.

"So basically where you always are," Lita said with a laugh.

The girls sat in silence for a few moments, when Amy blurted out, "I still can't believe he tore off your skirt!"

And then they all laughed.

* * *

 _Raye went as fast as her feet could take her… She was Sailor Mars… There was a white marble everywhere she looked… Pillars falling down around her… Fire outside… Screams of anguish…_

 _She was looking for the rest of the Sailor Scouts. A large staircase stood before her. A gloved hand grabbed her arm._

 _"Serena went to the terrace," an unfamiliar voice told her. Without thinking, she ran. It was too late. There was a motionless alabaster arm wearing a pearl bracelet. Blood ran across the stone and over to Raye's red stilettos… There was nothing else she could do…_

Raye opened her eyes. She placed her hands back into her lap. She was back at the temple. The flames flickered before her, but seemed to hold no more secrets.

* * *

Darien was sitting in a chair, facing the patio window with the full moon staring back at him. He had a glass and a bottle of whiskey in his lap. For the past couple of months, his dreams about the princess had been getting more intense and realistic, but last night, after helping Sailor Moon, he could feel the princess's plea in the bottom of his soul. He hadn't been able to sleep after the dream, and he couldn't bring himself to rest tonight either. He was hoping the whiskey would knock him out cold, and then he wouldn't dream at all. He knew it was a long shot, because the princess always found him. He loved her dearly, but hearing someone you love beg for help you can't provide was the most devastating feeling.

Perhaps that's why he liked Sailor Moon so much. He could always help her. When he felt the tug at his navel, he knew just what to do. He felt her fear, he felt her desperation, he felt when she was in danger. But last night, for the first time, he had felt two conflicting things, like she was warring inside herself. He felt disappointment and sadness at first, and that's what made him change, and then, once he arrived at the scene of the battle he felt a righteous fury, the likes of which he'd never felt before, even in himself. When he saw that she was wounded, he was confused as to why he didn't feel her pain, but maybe he could only feel two things at once.

Sailor Moon had always intrigued him. She was ethereal. She was innocent. She was so unsure of herself.

Last night, however, none of that was the case. She was callous, she was snarky, she was loud. He hesitated to admit this to himself, but he had never found Sailor Moon sexier. He had never found her sexy before – beautiful, of course, in a nymph kind of way, but never sexy. If she hadn't been bleeding half to death in that alleyway, he might have done much worse to her than make a tourniquet out of her skirt.

Thinking sexy thoughts seemed immoral, though, because this wasn't the Sailor Moon he knew. This wasn't the Sailor Moon he was supposed to aid, he was sure of it. Something was wrong with her, and she insisted on dealing with it alone. Maybe the scouts could get through to her; he was, after all, practically a stranger, but he feared that wouldn't be the case. He wanted desperately to help her. He wanted to make her smile. He smiled at the thought of her obnoxious room. He could gather that the Sailor Scouts were teenagers, but getting a look at her real life was interesting. Apparently, she was an innocent in her off-time, too.

But she had requested space, and he would grant her that.

He downed his glass and poured another, except it was barely anything at all, and he finished it in one swig. _Time to go buy more,_ he thought.

* * *

He walked a few blocks and ended up at a random gas station, hoping, because he failed to remember, that it was still within the alcohol selling hours. He knew he looked like shit because he hadn't shaved this morning and he knew he smelled like whiskey because he had a few messy gulps. But he didn't care.

He went to the back area and inspected the beer they had in stock. He grabbed a 12 pack of the cheapest brand and then decided to check the medicine aisle, just to see if they had any sleeping pills. But to his surprise, someone was already there, looking at the sleeping pills herself. A girl with long blonde pigtails in bows, in moon and star pajamas, with bunny slippers on her feet.

"Serena?" he asked incredulously.

She turned to look at him, but didn't seem to really see him. "Darien. Hey," she said.

He walked closer to where she stood. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

"I've been an insomniac," she said, and now that he looked at her, he could see the circles under her eyes.

"What's been keeping you up? Too much sugar?" he asked, only partly joking. Serena glared at him.

"For your information, I've been having some bad dreams." She went back to perusing the night aids, and didn't look at him when she said, "You don't look well."

"I've been an insomniac as well," Darien admitted. "Also with dreams. But hey, I'm fixing it!" He patted the case of beer he was holding.

"I suppose that's one way to do it," Serena said as she pulled a box off the shelf and made her way to the counter. He followed her. After she paid for the pills, she walked out the door and left him to pay for his beer.

When he stepped outside the store, Serena was standing there, just staring at the ground. "Serena?" he called, and she looked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Look, here's what I'm thinking: You're not going to sleep tonight, are you?"

Serena shook her head.

"Neither am I. So why don't you come over to my apartment and we'll not-sleep together."

Serena raised her eyebrows. "I don't know –"

"Are you going to spend the whole night thinking about the dream you're avoiding?"

Once more, although with hesitance, Serena nodded.

"So am I. So we're killing two birds with one stone. No boredom while not-sleeping, and keeping our minds off our shit. Sounds good?" Darien didn't know why he was so insistent on Serena coming to hang out. He figured he needed the distraction. Or maybe he was just drunk.

"Okay," she said with a small smile.

"Atta girl," he said and he motioned for her to follow him. "Do you live around here?"

"No, actually," Serena said. "I walked for a while, trying to avoid the thoughts, like you said."

"Well then it's lucky I found you, because you shouldn't be walking alone, looking like some weirdo's fantasy."

"Is that an insult or some kind of twisted compliment?" Serena said.

"I'm not sure," Darien admitted. "But if you're nice, maybe I'll give you some of my beer."

"Just how much have you had tonight, Shields?"

"What makes you think I've had any?"

"You're acting stupid, and you smell like my dad's liquor cabinet."

"Just for that, I declare Meatball Head shall have no beer."

"Fine by me; I've never drank before."

"All right, you've twisted my arm; I'll give you one."

* * *

Serena was shocked by the lavish nature of Darien's apartment, to say the least. He lived in the top penthouse of an apparently very-exclusive luxury building. Inside his apartment was very plain, but in that modern, clean way. She wouldn't be surprised if Darien had got the place fully furnished, because she couldn't imagine him picking out the oddly shaped white sofa, or the paintings of different colored lines hanging on the wall. Two things caught her eye: the massive TV in front of the couch, and the balcony, with the door open, silk curtain floating in the wind.

She stepped outside and admired the view of the city before her and the full moon above her. She felt like this was the highest from the ground she had ever been. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze.

Darien had darted off to what she assumed was his bedroom, proclaiming that he had to piss. He was definitely not-sober all right, and Serena wondered if she would regret this excursion. True, she didn't like Darien very much (he was _annoying_ ), but she also knew he was harmless. And when he had asked if she would be spending the night thinking of the dream, the hitch in his voice let her know that he _knew_. He was dealing with it, too.

"Oh, there you are," Darien said as he stepped out onto the patio, too. He was holding two beer bottles. "I figured you would be in front of the TV."

"TV got second place this round," she said, holding her hand out for her beer. He gave it to her and it took her a moment to realize she didn't know how to open it. "Do I need an opener or…?" She saw Darien already sipping on his, and he gave a devilish smile.

"Fine, whatever!" Serena growled and glanced at the cap which said 'Twist Off.' She then tried to twist it off with her hand, but that hurt. Then she grabbed her shirt, and twisted it off that way. "Ha ha!" she cried.

"Victory is yours, Meatball Head!" Darien held his bottle out so they could cheers. "Here's to your first beer. I'm sorry it's a shitty brand."

Serena laughed and took a swig and almost gagged.

"See, I knew you'd like it! I think I'll go get us some chairs."

"No, wait, I'd like to sit right here." Serena slid to the concrete with her back against the wall. Her sides protested a bit at the motion, but not too much. She took another sip of beer, deciding to swallow it quickly.

Darien sat opposite her, his back against the patio's rails.

"You place is pretty amazing," Serena said.

"Thank you, I bought it myself," Darien said with a laugh.

"You _bought_ it? But a place like this…"

Darien seemed to find her awe amusing. "Yes, Serena, I can afford a place like this."

"Oh," she said, because, really, what else could she? "Why do you always dress like such a dweeb?" Couldn't he afford the latest fashions?

"Probably for the same reason you wear meatballs," Darien said simply.

"Point taken."

"But let me ask you this, and this is me being serious and not a dick, do you ever trip over your own hair?"

"That's you not being a dick?!"

"It's a legitimate curiosity I have. Humor me." Darien's eyes were sparkling mischievously and he grinned as he took a swig from his beer. He was drinking ahead of Serena, so she took a big gulp herself, slowly acclimating to the horrible, wretched taste.

"Yes," she admitted. "I have."

Darien seemed to find that the funniest thing ever and laughed and laughed and laughed. Serena stood on her knees and punched his arm a few times. "Hey! Hey you! I thought you said you wouldn't be a dick!"

"I said my question was me not being a dick, not the reaction. For some reason Andrew and I had a conversation about this."

"You had a conversation about _my hair_?"

"And you tripping over it, yes. Shame, I was on your side, but Andrew was right, and now I owe him ten bucks."

"You took bets on me _tripping over my hair_?!" Serena finished her beer, and sat back on her bottom, defeated. "Can I have another one?"

"Oh, most certainly," Darien replied. "I'm saying we finish the whole case."

By the time Darien came back with the case of beer and handed one to Serena, she was back to feeling that anger that had been burning up inside her. She opened her beer and sipped. When she looked at Darien, he was on his phone.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Texting Andrew."

"Oh my god, Darien, it must be past 1 am."

"It's 1:55, actually, and so what?"

"So what did you tell him?"

"That I asked you and you said you had and he won. Why?"

"What's he gonna think when he finds out we were hanging out at 1:55 am?"

"He'll say, 'Why did you text me that so late?' and I'll say, 'Turns out Meatball Head and I are both insomniacs and we bumped into each other and talked.'"

"Well," Serena said. "I guess that doesn't sound too bad."

"Yeah 'cause it's the truth." Darien started his third beer. Serena grabbed hers and raced to catch up. Darien noticed. "Give it up, kid, you're a novice. Also, you're, like, literally half my size so it's going to start hitting you soon."

"Amy hates when people use literally like that."

"Oh, I like Amy. She's got a good head on her shoulders. It would've been cool if she was the one I ran into …" Darien said, teasingly staring contemplatively into the distance.

"Well you're stuck with me, Shields, so give me another damn beer."

They sat in silence for a while. Just the beer and the breeze and two people who happened to be stranded in the same, weird boat.

"How old are you, Serena?" Darien asked after awhile.

"I'm 16, in a couple of weeks. What about you?"

"I'm 19. I thought you were younger."

"Most people do," Serena said. Then she just had to ask. "Were you always rich?"

Darien gave a low chuckle. "My family was wealthy from the time I was born, I think."

"You think?"

"My parents died in a car crash when I was six." Darien opened his fourth beer.

Serena was flabbergasted. All her problems seemed so small and insignificant now. No wonder Darien was the way he was, and no wonder he couldn't sleep at night. "That's what your dream's about," Serena said quietly, but Darien shook his head.

"No, it would make sense, and I'd almost rather it were. But you don't want to know my dream. You wouldn't believe it."

"That's the way I feel about mine," Serena said softy.

"Well, then, maybe we have more in common than we thought," Darien said with a small smile. "Tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine."

"Why can't you go first?"

"Because I asked."

Serena sighed and took another swig of beer before sighing. "I've been having prophetic dreams about my death," she said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Darien spit out the beer in his mouth. " _What_?!"

"See," Serena said, burying her face in her hands. "I knew you wouldn't believe me." And, for the first time in what felt like years, but was in actuality a week, Serena cried. She was then surprised by the gentle but firm arm that flung itself across her shoulder.

"Don't cry, Meatball," Darien said to her ear, his beer breath hitting her nostrils. "Just tell me about the dream. Am I the only person you've told?"

"Yes," Serena said, lifting her head up and wiping her face. "Because everyone will think I'm crazy."

"I don't think you're crazy," Darien said, pulling away slightly but leaving his arm in place. "Tell me."

"It's simple and short. I'm in a white dress, I'm down on my knees. And I reach for a sword and then I take it… And then I feel _death_. The dream is real. As real as real life. I die every time, and I feel it. I don't know how to describe it … It's like my soul is being lifted out of my body? That's the easiest explanation, but it's still not right." Serena clutched at her throat. "I feel my last breath." Serena reached for the beer bottle next to her, but it was empty, and she threw it down with disgust.

"Here, I'll get you another one," Darien said and he leaned over to grab a bottle out of the crate. It was almost empty now, Serena realized. Serena started drinking her beer, and she had to admit, Darien's – out of everyone's! – presence was making her feel better. She leaned into his arm and closed her eyes.

"Can I ask you what might be a stupid question?" Darien said softly.

Serena felt the anger inside of her again, but didn't open her eyes. "What, like if I tripped over my hair in my dream?"

"No, I wouldn't do that."

Serena glimpsed at Darien and he was looking at her very seriously. "Okay then," she said. "Ask away."

"Well," Darien extracted himself from Serena and began to pace along the patio, "you said that your dream is prophetic, which is an interesting word coming from you. How do you know that it's prophetic, exactly?"

Serena blinked. "Because I'm not dead yet…?"

Darien laughed sardonically. "I meant, is there some kind of … _magic_? Like, that you could feel?"

Darien stared at her intently. All she could do was nod.

"That's what I thought. I guess it's my turn now, huh?" He turned away from her and rested his arms on the railing. "For the past eleven years, I have had the same dream, every night. It's a princess, whose face I can't see, begging me to help her. 'Please, Darien.' I know it's real. I can feel it. She's in danger, and she's desperate. When I was younger, I spoke to shrinks who thought the princess was just a subconscious thing involving my parents, which made sense on paper, but not so much in my gut."

Darien took a drink of the beer he carried. She sipped at her beer, too, as her thoughts consumed her. _He's talking about the princess. But how can this be? Unless it's a different one?_ Darien cleared his throat and continued, "As I got older, I came to realize that there was something about me, and that I _could_ be destined to save a princess. But I don't know how, and she just seems to be getting worse. I feel like she will die if I don't do something, but I don't know what that something is, and it eats at me in the most painful way."

Darien turned to face Serena and gave a small smile. "Do you think _I'm_ crazy?"

"Of course – _hiccup_ – Of course I don't think you're crazy. I told you about my dream and you told me about yours. And you know your princess is just as real as my death is."

"Yes, the princess is real. I just wish I could find her." Darien went to help Serena stand up and she wobbled a bit, knocking over the beer bottles next to her feet.

"Oh, shit," she said.

"It's okay, Serena, I've got you," Darien said, and then her pushed inside, over to the modern couch. He then put a blanket across her. Serena felt her eyelids starting to droop. "I thought I told you that I can't sleep?"

Darien got down on his knees on the carpet in front of her and smiled. "I know. You end up killing yourself. How about we do this, then? I'll get you some water and you sleep for a bit, and I'll see how long it takes you to wake up from the nightmare. And then after that, I'll wake you up before it happens. I don't mind waking you up every thirty minutes, Meatball Head, because your body does need _some_ form of sleep."

Serena wasn't sure if it was the best plan, but it _was_ a plan that involved sleeping and her body cried out for it. She heard Darien in the kitchen running the faucet, but her eyes were already shutting …

She woke up what felt like instantaneously, sweating and breathing hard. Darien had been on the other side of the room, reading a book, but he dropped it and ran over to her, and, to Serena's complete and utter surprise, he gave her a firm hug. "It's all right, Meatball Head," he said. "You are not dead. You are here, in Darien Shields's apartment, which may be just as weird for you as the dream, I don't know."

Serena felt her shoulders relax, and then she laughed. "Being here _is_ kind of weird."

Darien laughed, too. He handed her a glass of water that was on the table and said, "I don't know why you even came over here. I am totally plastered."

Serena drank her water and thought carefully over her next words, wondering if the decision bouncing around her brain was be wise. Finally, she said, "I could tell you were feeling the same thing I was. That's why I came. Plus, you've been maturing the last couple of years, I guess."

" _Maturing_?" Darien asked.

"Yeah, you're not as big of an ass."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," Serena said. "How long was I asleep?"

"Around an hour and a half, so I'll probably wake you a little past an hour this time. I'm sorry that your dream is so hard to sleep through; mine just usually makes me feel depressed." Serena laid back down, and Darien straightened the cover and placed it around her. Serena refused to call it "being tucked in," because she did not want to live in the world where Darien did that.

"Darien," Serena said softly. "I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone because I came across this information in a bad way, and, uh, I could really get in trouble for it." Serena couldn't believe she was doing this.

"Okay," Darien seemed intrigued and his eyes were moving across her face.

"I don't know if you could use this information, or how, but I thought it might help you. With closure or something."

"Come on, now you're just teasing me," Darien tried to say with a small smile, but he could feel the tension.

"Darien …" Serena started. "I've heard that the Sailor Scouts are looking for a princess."

Darien looked shocked at the information before finally saying, " _Wow_."

Serena felt herself blush and she didn't know why. She had revealed Sailor Scout business to an outsider. She had betrayed their trust. Worst yet, she had compromised her identity; what if Darien could now look at her and see her similarities to Sailor Moon?

"I thought it might help you feel better, knowing there is a princess somewhere, and that people are looking for her. Please don't tell anyone I told you this, even the Sailor Scouts; I'll think they'll fry me!"

"Serena," Darien said calmly. "I won't tell anyone. Besides, when am I ever going to see the Sailor Scouts? Try to relax and go back to sleep. You need it. You really look terrible."

Serena chuckled, but felt more relaxed. "Thanks, Darien." And then she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Amy was spending her lunch period doing something she often thought too dangerous to do at school. She peeked over her shoulder every few minutes as if someone could pop up from behind the bushes and actually surprise her, despite the fact that she was in a very secluded corner of the school, a place she liked to go when, in all honesty, she felt like she needed to be alone and recharge. Serena and Lita didn't understand things like that.

But, then again, there were a lot of things Amy didn't understand, either. She looked around again before glancing down at the small, blue computer hidden in her lunch case.

There was something that had been nagging at her, ever since Serena had begun to change. It wasn't that Serena had transformed into a monster overnight or anything; it had been little things that had tripped Amy up, and apparently the other girls, and even Tuxedo Mask, were noticing it, too. Serena did not skip to the arcade anymore. She cursed when she was angry now. That naïve light in her friend's eyes had started to dim, oh so suddenly, it seemed, over the course of a few days. And Sailor Moon … Sailor Moon was _not_ the same.

Previously, Amy had only seen Serena show true anger while she was in the middle of an argument with Darien, and even that rage seemed rather superficial and childish. But this new temperament had started to rear its head more and more, and not just in battle. Serena seemed less inclined to talk to her friends, more closed-off, her facial expressions grimmer. They were small changes, but changes none-the-less. And Serena, according to Luna, was not sleeping. Amy wished that she could pinpoint the exact moment in time this change occurred, but she lacked the statistics.

The computer Luna had gifted the blue-haired scout was a very fascinating device. She still did not entirely understand its framework – it being a gift from whomever had deigned to create the Sailor Scouts in the first place, something Luna had been suspiciously mum on. The computer's most useful asset in battle was its ability to analyze power sources of the creatures it came across, though for some reason it never backed-up its scanned data.

But what Amy thought about, and often, was the readings the computer displayed on the physical characteristics of the scouts themselves. According to the computer, the girls and their Sailor identities were not connected at all. She had compared herself to Sailor Mercury many times, and aside from the physical traits – weight, height – the figures were completely different. There were the obvious fighting attribute differences, like agility and speed, but most peculiarly, the _brain patterns were different_. If she were to compare herself and her alter-ego as an outsider, she would say in simplest terms that they were entirely different people. _But how could that be?_ she wondered. _How does being a Sailor Soldier really work?_

There were philosophical implications, of course, but Amy wasn't concerned with those. Instead, she was thinking about her friend's newfound attitude.

Serena had always been the most like herself in her transitioned form, but that night, when Amy had been scanning the dust that Serena ran her hands through, she noticed something strange that she wished she had written down. Because for the briefest flicker of time, before Serena moved out of the way of her visor, she had seen different parts of Serena's brain light up than she had ever seen before. She shouldn't have turned the visor off. She should have stopped and seriously stared at her friend. There were a lot of things she should've done, but the fact of the matter was, she hadn't. She contemplated approaching Serena directly, but that seemed rather premature – her friend likely did not know anything about what was going on. She was lashing out like she was just as confused as the rest of them, and Amy did not want to stress Serena out with scary words like "brain waves."

Amy decided to use her communicator to call Luna, because the cat was the one who would most likely know what to make of her findings, but there was no answer.

* * *

Lita was sitting alone at lunch. She had brought extra food for her friends, but Amy said she had to go to the library and Serena had been a no-show for school.

She inspected the courtyard for anyone else to eat with and saw Molly and Melvin chatting underneath a tree. She went over to them and smiled. "Hi, guys!" she said.

"Oh hey, Lita!" Molly said brightly. "No Serena today, huh?"

"Nope, I guess she's just playing hooky. Mind if I join you guys?"

"Nah, Lita, we don't mind!" Molly said, and Lita sat down. "We were actually just talking about Serena."

"Oh, really, what about?"

"How bizarre she's been lately!" Melvin said. "She's hardly ever at school, and when she is, she walks around looking like she wants to punch someone in the face. Imagine: Serena the Bully!"

"I'm really worried about her," Molly said softly, and Lita was reminded that Molly had been Serena's best friend since childhood, and they were forced to drift apart due to the Sailor Scouts, due to Molly's safety and Serena's new priorities. It kind of made her sad. She decided Molly should know about what they had talked about.

"We all worry about Serena," Lita said. "We tried to take out shopping and then when she got a … _slight_ injury, we offered to take her to the hospital and she blew up at us, accusing us of babysitting her. We've heard she hasn't been sleeping and she's been eating way less than she used to. It's freaky."

"Oh, poor Serena!" Molly said with wide eyes. "What on earth could be wrong with her?"

"Sounds to me like depression. Of course, I'd need to check DSM-IV to be sure," Melvin said.

"You really think she's depressed, Melvin?" Molly sounded worried. "How do we fix that?"

"That's what I've been wondering myself," Lita said.

"Well if she _is_ suffering from depression, an anti-depressant and a change in diet would be a good starting place for her," Melvin said.

"Like we could ever force Serena to take pills. She hates them. Only takes medicine when she has to," Lita said.

"And we could never get Serena to eat healthier in a million years!" Molly cried.

"Well, then, what makes Serena happiest? If we could give her all her favorite things, maybe that might cheer her up!"

"Well we already tried buying her the things she liked and being positive around her …" Lita said.

"When the last time she seemed like old Serena to you?" Melvin asked, looking back and forth between the girls.

Lita remembered. It was after Tuxedo Mask had paid her all that attention, and she had told the Scouts all about it.

"It was probably about a month ago," Molly said, interrupting Lita's thoughts. "It was the night she was at my house, and we were talking about celebrity crushes. She totally insisted that Tuxedo Mask was her number one, and then she listed all the things she liked about him.

"Of course, introducing her to Tuxedo Mask seems like a long shot," Molly finished sadly. "Not to mention that it's no good to love someone who could never love ya back."

The gears in Lita's heard were turning. "I don't think she loves Tuxedo Mask," Lita said slowly. "I think she just really wants to bone him."

Molly and Melvin both widened their eyes. "That is certainly, uh, not quite the Serena I know," Melvin said, scratching the back of his head and blushing.

Molly, however, shook her head. "Of course her crush is just about his looks, but doing anything about it is totally out of the question so it doesn't really matter. We need to figure out how to move from Tuxedo Mask to something realistic. Maybe we could set her up on a date! Ooh, Andrew from the arcade, she's always loved him!"

"You know there is this guy in my calculus class who…" Melvin was saying, but all Lita was thinking about was her revelation.

 _Get Tuxedo Mask and Serena to hook up, ease their sexual tension, ease his obsession with the Sailor Scouts, and, most of all, give Serena a really big mood boost._

Serena would be too embarrassed to talk about this directly, though. She wondered how Tuxedo Mask felt about it. She still wasn't sure of his intentions regarding any of the Sailor Scouts, and, for all she knew, he was sent to kill Serena. But she also knew he was attracted to Sailor Moon, so she could at least play off of that. Another more conniving part of Lita wondered if they could use Serena as a spy to figure the mysterious Tuxedo Mask out.

She heard the buzzing of her communicator and turned to it quickly. "Sorry guys," she said as she picked up her school bag. "I've gotta run. We should talk more about how to help Serena later, though."

And Lita left Molly and Melvin under the tree as she walked towards the school building, pulling out her communicator. It was Raye.

"What's going on?" Lita asked.

"I need you to come to the temple after school today for a meeting. Tell Amy." Raye looked stressed.

"Is anything wrong?"

"I'm not sure. Just make sure Serena doesn't come."

"Well that'll be easy; she's not in school today," Lita said.

"Oh," Raye said, and a worried look flittered across her face.

"You sure you can't debrief me now?"

"No, I'm sorry. I think this needs to be a meeting," Raye said firmly, and then the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. "Sounds like you need to get going. I'll see you later."

"Ditto, Raye," Lita said, and then the call disconnected.

* * *

At around 2 pm, Serena felt rested enough to get up. Darien had been dutiful in waking her up, although he was always doing something different when he did, like reorganizing his books, or sweeping the kitchen floor, or putting dishes in the dishwasher, and Serena had started to feel like a burden.

"I can't believe you did that for ten hours!" Serena said. She was sitting at the bar while Darien was in his kitchen fetching them sodas. "And you didn't feel tired?"

"I did," Darien said, handing her the can over the bar. "But I've only missed a couple of nights sleep. Sounds like for you it's been longer."

"It has," Serena said. "It's kind of crazy that you're so good at helping people. I didn't think that was your thing."

"You always think the worst of me. I want to help people. That's why I'm in medical school."

Serena snorted. "Your brain's big enough for that?"

"Oh no," Darien said dryly. "You're back to being your old self again. You're free to leave my house whenever you want, Meatball Head."

"Oh, come on, Trust Fund Boy. I'm teasing. I'm just surprised that real, live people are your speed. Oooh, maybe you should work in a morgue!" Serena didn't know where the "Trust Fund Boy" came from, and it seemed especially callous, and she wanted to take it back, apologize, but she didn't. Darien smirked at her.

"Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to be working there when you come in after offing yourself." Darien raised an eyebrow, like he was challenging her. But Serena didn't feel angry. In fact, she felt a sense of relief wash over. _Someone else knew_. _She wasn't carrying this burden alone._ She could make jokes about it, and it would be okay.

"For your information, Darien," she said, pointing her finger at him, "even if I were dead, I would wake up and refuse to let you touch me."

"Good to know," Darien laughed. They finished their sodas in silence, but it was companionable one.

"I guess I'd better be leaving now," Serena said, and she slid off the bar stool.

"At least let me drive you home; you look ridiculous," Darien said.

Serena looked down at her pajamas. She could see a few beer stains. As a matter of fact, she had been planning to transform into Sailor Moon, so she could sneak in her bedroom window, change into her school clothes and then somehow convince her parents that the reason she wasn't there when they woke up was because she and Amy had an early study session.

"It'll be okay, Darien; I'm used to getting strange looks, if you can believe it."

Darien laughed. "All right, then, have it your way. Don't come crawling back when you get lost."

She wasn't going to get lost. From the tops of buildings, she could make out familiar landmarks. "I'll be fine," she said. "Oh, also, what are you doing next Friday night?"

Darien looked up to the ceiling, like he was checking a calendar in his head. Finally he said, "I don't know; why?"

"Because it's my birthday party, and you're now officially invited! It'll be pretty lame; it's at my house, and my folks will be there so it'll probably just be people eating cake and watching movies, but you're invited!"

"I might drop by. What's your address?"

Serena smirked. "Just ask Andrew. It's on his invitation."

Darien walked over to her and looked down at her with amused eyes. "And I don't get an invitation?"

"Nope. I gave them all out a few weeks ago."

Darien rolled his eyes. "You're so annoying, Serena." And then he walked back into the kitchen. Serena could tell he wasn't mad, though.

"I'll see you later!" she called as she walked to the front door. "Thanks for everything! You're not a _total_ monster!" And as she exited the apartment, she heard his chuckling.

* * *

Amy and Lita walked the way up to the temple and Raye was sitting seriously at the head of the table. Amy and Lita quickly took their respective seats.

"I tried to get a hold of Luna," Raye said quietly. "Has anyone heard from her?"

The other scouts shook their heads.

"Well … I suppose you're wondering why I called this meeting," Raye spoke slowly. "It relates to what I saw in the fire about Serena."

"Oh, no," Amy said with distress. "Was it something _that_ horrible?"

"I don't know what it was. It was images of blood. Blood running off a ledge, blood running down an arm to an open palm, which might have been Serena's. I don't know. All I can say it that it was very disturbing, and I could feel the danger Serena was in. She is literally in peril, guys. And I don't know what to do about it."

This was the most frazzled Amy had ever seen Raye. "Well, there is a reason she has us, isn't there? To help her fight?"

"But we can't protect her from this! This was too powerful!" Raye said emphatically. "There was something about this danger that was wrong, too. Something I couldn't put my finger on."

"It's pretty strange that all of this is happening around the same time that there's supposed to be 'something big' in our midst," Lita said.

"That's a good point," Amy said. "I'm also intrigued by Raye saying this danger is strange, because I suspect that whatever's wrong with Serena doesn't have anything to do with the Negaverse. It's not their Modus Operandi."

"What do you mean?" Raye asked.

"Well, there's no indication her energy's being drained at an alarming rate, nor are they focusing on anyone else. Lita, you said the other day that Sailor Moon's power is stronger than ours, and that is true. That might be the reason her life's in danger, it might be the reason there's a change in her moods, and it might even have something to do with the 'something big'. But it's certainly not the Negaverse directly. I suspect it's some other kind of entity."

"Some other kind of entity?" Raye exclaimed. "That's all you got?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just as lost as you. But the disturbing nature of the fire just proves to me we have to get through to Serena and convince her to confide in us somehow because something is wrong," Amy said firmly.

 _If I can get Serena and Tuxedo Mask to express their mutual attraction, will Serena become her old self again? Will my plan really_ get through _to Serena?_ Lita wondered.

There was the sound of communicator buzz and all three girls reached for theirs. "It's mine," Amy said. "Hello?" She saw the small face of the girl of whom they were just speaking.

"Hey, it's me, there's an attack downtown at some kind of flower festival."

"What are you doing downtown, Meatball Head?" Raye asked. "You weren't even at school!"

Serena made an aggravated face. "Is Lita with you too, Amy?"

"Yes, we're all here."

"Good. Hurry up." Serena ended the call.

* * *

By the time the scouts got downtown the flower festival was pure havoc. Sailor Moon had done a pretty good job of distracting the monster away from the people on the street, although most of them were on the ground, writhing in pain as some sort of force was sucking the energy out of them.

"Come on," Sailor Moon declared. "Just get me!"

The monster: a large, dandelion looking creature, shot out spores that Sailor Moon ducked with dexterity that Lita did not know Serena possessed, but she let out a scream when one hit her foot and caused her to fall face first onto the street. "That's not very nice!" she shouted, rubbing her chin.

"I'll figure out the monster's weak spot," Mercury said.

"Good, and I'll blast the damn thing," Raye growled, running over to help Sailor Moon to her feet.

Lita, however, could not focus on the battle. She was looking around, trying to spot someone she knew didn't want to be seen. But then the saw the small park on the opposite side of the street; it had a fountain, and a swingset, and a nice-sized tree whose branches were almost impossible to see through. She ran over to it, idly hearing Amy ask her where she was going as she did.

When she got to the tree, she stepped underneath its shade and looked up. He was almost completely bathed in black, even in the evening sunshine. But she could still see his mask.

"Sailor Jupiter, shouldn't you be helping with the fight?" Tuxedo Mask said in a calm voice.

"I should. But I wanted to ask you if you could stick around afterwards so I could talk to you." He didn't respond. "It's about Sailor Moon," she added, and he definitely shifted, but he did not say anything.

"All right, I gotta go kick this monster's butt. Bye!" Lita said and she ran over to Raye and Serena. Serena was fuming. "I had a kind of good day today!" she yelled, pointing a finger accusingly at the monster. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had a kind of good day?! And then scum like you come and fuck everything up!"

"Sailor Moon, calm down," Raye said softly.

Sailor Mercury joined them. "Attack the stem!"

Lita decided to stun the creature. "Jupiter Thunder!"

Sailor Moon removed her tiara. " _Moon Tiara Magic_!"

The monster crumbled into nothing after Serena's attack, and the people on the street began to wake up. "Come on," Raye said, and she led the girl into an alleyway so that the festival attendees wouldn't spot them. Serena's face was still red and she was breathing heavily, angrily.

"It took you guys long enough to get here," she said.

"And I repeat my earlier question, what the hell were you doing around here, anyway?" Raye asked.

"I was skipping school. That's no crime," Serena snapped.

"Well, actually I think it is," Raye said sharply, but then her voice softened. "You should let us know where you're going and stuff. It's good for the team."

"Good for you to keep tabs on me, you mean," Serena muttered, but she, too, seemed to have calmed down.

"Am I interrupting?" Tuxedo Mask stood a few feet away from the girls. "That was a good battle, girls. Very strategic," he said.

"Yeah, it was," Raye said. "Thanks for all your help."

"Sailor Mars," Amy said, half reprimanding her, half surprised. "How may we help you?" she asked Tuxedo Mask. She looked back at Sailor Moon, but she was leaning against a wall, staring at the sky.

"I believe he's here to speak to me," Lita said, stepping forward. She looked back at the girls' astonished faces. "It's alright," she assured them.

"Let's go, Sailor Jupiter," Tuxedo Mask said, and then, to Lita's embarrassment, he picked her up and proceeded to leap away with her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Lita had always prided herself on being happily independent, but she couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks at being swept away in the tight embrace of Tuxedo Mask. No wonder Serena liked him so much! She was tempted to just nestle her face into his chest and daydream about boys, but then she reminded herself that _this was business_ , and besides, where was he taking her?

They landed on top of a building. The sky was beautifully orange from the sunset, and Sailor Jupiter tried to retain an air of seriousness.

"Tuxedo Mask," she said, suddenly aware that she had never had a full conversation with him. He was standing across from her, casually twirling his cane.

"Sailor Jupiter," he said back, rather emotionlessly. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"It's regarding Sailor Moon, as I told you before. I have a request."

"A request?"

"Yes, a request with one condition," she stated, standing as tall as she could.

"A request with one condition…" Tuxedo Mask mused aloud to himself, still twirling that damn cane. "And please forgive me, Sailor Jupiter, for asking the obvious, but, why would I help you?"

"Because it's for Sailor Moon's benefit. I know that even you know something is wrong with her."

"If you know that I know that, then you must know that I offered Sailor Moon help, and she declined. I wouldn't say there's much else I could do for her."

" _Oh_ ," Lita said, "I bet that you might be able to help her in a way you have not thought of."

Tuxedo Mask stopped twirling his cane and began to pace. "I must say that I am surprised that you are approaching me for any sort of help, Sailor Jupiter, as a little birdie told me that you did not hold me in the highest regard."

Lita felt a flush of anger; Serena had managed to leave out _that part_ of the story. "A little birdie with blonde hair and a big mouth."

It was strange to see the slightest of smiles ghost across his face. "Sailor Moon and I had a good conversation. And you are right, I do concede to being concerned about her personality change. For those reasons, I am seriously considering your request."

Lita felt relieved. "I really think this might work."

"Of course," Tuxedo Mask said, "this comes down to the nature of my request."

Lita's eyes widened. "… _Your_ request?"

"Yes, I too, have one request with one condition. Seems like a rather fair trade, doesn't it?"

Lita tried to imagine what kind of request Tuxedo Mask could have in store. Would he ask the Sailor Scouts to disband? Would he ask with help taking over the universe? Help with his trig homework? Lita didn't know anything about Tuxedo Mask, and as he stepped closer, all she could see was the white covering his eyes.

"If your request is reasonable, I will accept it," Sailor Jupiter stated in the firmest voice she possessed.

"My request is more than reasonable, but you will not like it," Tuxedo Mask said. "Tell me what you want from me?"

"My request is that you spend more time with Sailor Moon. You know, pick her up and do the leap thing. Talk with her. Just pay more attention to her in general."

"' _The Leap Thing_?'" Tuxedo Mask repeated, but then he nodded. "All right, and the condition?"

"You have to swear that no harm will fall upon her at your hand."

Tuxedo Mask was quiet for a long while, and Lita shifted her weight between her legs, feeling more awkward than she had in a while. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he _was_ a dangerous guy, and he couldn't accept. Except, wouldn't a dangerous guy jump at this opportunity? Lita was starting to get lost in her thoughts when he answered.

"I will accept your request if you accept mine."

All this talk of "requests" and things of that nature was starting to make Lita's head hurt. "What do you want, Tuxie? Just spit it out."

"I've heard that the Sailor Scouts are looking for a princess."

Sailor Jupiter could've fainted on the spot. Out of all the things she imagined Tuxedo Mask bringing up, the princess might literally have been the last thing on her list. Then her thoughts started buzzing. How did he know that? Who told him? She stepped back instinctively and narrowed her eyes.

Tuxedo Mask broke out into a large grin. "So I take that what I've heard is true, then?"

 _Damn it!_ Jupiter cursed herself. She had given her thoughts away. Still, she spoke harshly this time, "What do you _want_ , Tuxedo Mask?"

"My request," Tuxedo Mask said, acting relatively jovial as he looked at the young woman before him, "is that you tell me everything that the Sailor Scouts find out about the princess."

"Why the _hell_ would I do that?" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed. "You've done nothing to earn my confidence."

"I've done a lot to earn your confidence," Tuxedo Mask said forcefully. "I've kept you from danger many times."

"You've saved Sailor Moon a bunch of times, if that's what you mean."

"Oh, yes, and let's just pretend that your team did not benefit from those rescues."

Sailor Jupiter was suddenly feeling mad, like, of the seeing red variety. She wondered if it was too much Tuxedo Mask exposure that had caused Serena to get so grouchy. Lita clenched her first and glanced down. "Are you making some kind of threat, Tuxedo Mask?"

"I'm not doing anything," he said simply. "It's just common sense: you need something from me, I need something from you. Quid Pro Quo."

"And what if I insisted that I had no idea what you were talking about?"

"Then you'd be taking me for far stupider than I am," Tuxedo Mask insisted.

"Trust me, I think I've got a pretty good idea of how stupid you are," Sailor Jupiter snarled. _The Princess! How did he know?! The entity!_

He must've been reading her mind. "My sources are of no interest and no danger to you, Sailor Jupiter."

She raised her eyebrow. "But what about you, Tuxedo Mask?"

He did not respond to that.

She went for a high kick and was cut off by the force of his cane stopping her, and he lowered her leg. "Let's not resort to fighting, Sailor Jupiter," he said with a tsk. "We were having such a good conversation before."

Sailor Jupiter shook her head. "I don't know what I was trying to accomplish by doing this. I'm sorry. Approaching you was a bad idea."

Tuxedo Mask stepped closer and spoke softly. "What if I were to give you my word that I wish no harm to Sailor Moon _or_ the princess?"

There was sincerity in his voice that Tuxedo Mask hadn't displayed their whole conversation. She was not sure what to make of it. They stood in silence for a minute. Lita kept hearing Raye's description of the vision she had seen in the flames… What if this really would help Sailor Moon? Night had started to fall around them.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

"What is what?"

"What is your condition?"

Tuxedo Mask stepped back. "My condition is that you not tell the other sailor scouts that you're telling me things about the princess."

Sailor Jupiter sighed. "And let me guess, you won't tell me why that is?" Tuxedo Mask didn't respond.

Sailor Jupiter shifted uneasily. "Can you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course," Tuxedo Mask said. "Let's say… ten days? We'll meet back at that tree. I look forward to seeing you again, Sailor Jupiter." Then he leapt away. Lita sighed.

* * *

Serena opened the piece of foil, took out the candy and chewed obediently, wearing the most serious expression in the history of anyone indulging in gum. Then she stepped up to the tall telephone pole and gave it a sober look over. Underneath her right arm were a stack of papers. She spit her gum into her left palm.

Raye and Amy knew better than to say anything to Serena when she was this huffed up. "Almost got it," she muttered, standing on the tips of her toes. She then stuck a piece of gum to the telephone pole and attached the flyer.

With a momentary look of triumph, she turned to her two friends, who were wearing their casual clothes, and handed them decks of flyers. "Here, Raye, you take these to the temple, and here you go, Amy, please, take these to your cram school."

The flyers were simple.

 _MISSING CAT. HER NAME IS LUNA. LOOKS LIKE THIS:_

Followed by what could kindly be called a 'crude' drawing of a black blob. Raye and Amy exchanged another look. They had been silently debating who should tell Serena that her missing posters could use some more work for the better part of the afternoon. Raye finally sighed and closed her eyes, "Serena don't you think –"

"Whoever stole Luna is going to be sorry," Serena said darkly. "I'm going to slice their throat."

"Serena!" Raye admonished. "You don't even know if Luna has been stolen. It's only been a few days."

"She wouldn't leave me like this," Serena said easily. She turned and continued to walk up the street, towards the next pole. "Besides, even Amy agrees she's stolen."

"I don't necessarily agree that she's stolen." Amy pulled her Mercury computer from her satchel. "But the fact that the network is currently inaccessible to me does not bode well."

"What does that mean?" Serena asked as she went about sticking a new piece of gum into her mouth. "Ib doesn'b bode bell?"

Amy glanced at Raye and then back to Serena, who still had a distinct look of determination on her face as she went about sticking the flyer in place. "I just think there's a lot of weird things going on lately," Amy said. She frowned thoughtfully. "It's frustrating: like it's a puzzle I can't solve."

"You can solve any puzzle you set your mind to, Ames," Serena said brusquely. "But do you mind finding Luna first?" She then continued down the block.

"Oi, Meatball Head!" a voice called out.

Raye and Amy tensed. "Oh, shit," Raye said. "Darien's going to be murdered in front of us."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad …" Amy muttered rather unconvincingly.

Darien had approached Serena from behind and was staring at the poster she was hanging curiously. When Serena was satisfied, she nodded and then turned to Darien.

"Here, jerk," she said, pulling a stack of posters out from under her arm. "Make yourself useful and pass these around your school."

Darien looked down at the flyers before shrugging and walking off with them. He nodded his head at Amy and Raye as he passed them. Raye swung her head quickly back and forth between Serena and Darien, who were walking in opposite directions now. " _What the hell is going on with her_?!" Raye cried in Serena's direction.

Darien did not seem to elicit the same emotional responses from Serena that he usually did. Amy looked down at the currently-malfunctioning computer in her hand. The gears in her head wouldn't turn. It was like they were clogged with chewed-up gum.

* * *

Lita was gazing longingly at the salmon filet on display in front of her. Long and pink, her mind was instantly awhirl with all sorts of amazing dishes she could make with such a fine cut. "Oh, Lita!" Raye would say, "the seasoning on this is perfect!"

"I agree!" Amy would say. "That hint of rosemary is particularly inspired!"

Serena would not say much, nor eat with her trademark gusto.

And then, unbidden, Tuxedo Mask appeared. He kept inviting himself to dinner, and, she had to admit, he was pretty good at getting into places unseen. "It smells delicious," he would say.

Serena's face always lit up when she saw him. She looked like her old self. Lita growled and punched the glass case.

"Um, is something the matter?" the clerk asked, and Lita blushed. He was a younger boy, all brown hair and acne scars but her lack of a boyfriend must be getting to her – he _did_ seem to have his charms.

"No, no, no," Lita said quickly. "Everything's fine."

"Well then I'm going to have to ask that you refrain from hitting the display cases, ma'am."

"Oh, jeez," Lita muttered once the man had left. "I really must look crazy."

"If you want my opinion, you just look a little frustrated, is all."

Lita turned to the voice and saw a young blonde woman in a red coat, bent over the display cases a little further down, inspecting the catfish. The girl was very pretty, and her long hair was tied up with a red ribbon. She turned to Lita and smiled.

"This place is pretty fantastic, huh?"

Lita nodded. "Yeah, it's, uh, definitely my favorite fish market in the area."

"I love the smell," the girl said. She closed her eyes and inhaled. "It's like the ocean."

"I love cooking sea food," Lita said with a slight chuckle, "but not even I'm sure I could agree with you on that."

"And those lobsters over there have such nice color!" the girl proclaimed. Lita was starting to think she was a bit strange, when the girl smiled and held out her hand. "My name's Mina."

"Lita. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too! Do you mind if I ask you a bit of a personal question?"

"Um," Lita started. The girl, for her part, seemed a bit uncomfortable, too. "I guess," Lita said.

The girl smiled sadly. "What were you thinking about just now?"

"Ahh…" Lita sighed. "I guess I was just thinking of throwing a dinner party for my friends."

"Oh." The girl's face fell, as if that was the saddest thing she had ever heard. "I, um, well, I actually approached you because I thought you were someone I knew, but to be honest, you're not really anything like her. I don't know if that makes any sense. I mean, you're _a lot_ like her, but up close, I can see the differences."

Lita wasn't sure what she was supposed to say, but then the girl continued hurriedly, smiling brightly once again, "I hope you fix whatever's bothering you." She looked back at the fish and sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to purchase any of these lovely fish for my friends, so you should buy that wonderful salmon for yours. I hope to see you around!"

"Yeah, you too," Lita said, but the girl was already walking off, long, blonde locks swinging behind until she disappeared into the distance.

Lita whistled to herself. _What. A. Weirdo. She was super pretty, though. Was I being picked up?_ Lita frowned, still not sure what to make of that strange interaction. Maybe she really _did_ need a boyfriend. She returned to the clerk. "Yes, I will take that salmon cutlet, thank you."

The clerk nodded and placed the fish on the butcher paper and on the scale. "What kind of fish do you like?" Lita asked the boy. _I don't much mind mackerel_ , a voice that sounded like Tuxedo Mask said in her head. Lita cringed and tried to ignore it. Smiling, gritting her teeth and trying to keep the small pieces of her sanity, she said to the boy, "I mean, you must love it… being by the docks, selling the fish."

"Not really," said the clerk. "This is just how I make my living."

Lita nodded and looked down at the ground. "Right, right."

Then she heard someone call her name "Lita!"

She turned to the people calling her and saw Serena, Raye and Amy heading her way. "Oh, hey guys," she said as the clerk went about tying up her order. "What are you doing here?"

"Luna's still missing, and something's wrong," Serena said darkly, the sparkle in her eyes that Lita was so used to seeing nowhere to be found.

"Serena, it'll be okay. I'm sure Luna's fine, and well, with all of us working to find her …"

"I agree," Raye said. "It's okay to worry about, Luna; we all do. And it's okay to worry about where she is because she's our mentor and she's our friend, but working yourself up over this is insane."

"You're the one who's not seeing that any second she's not here, something terrible could be happening to her. We should be trying to find her, but what can we do!? Absolutely nothing; that's right!" Serena snapped, her eyes flashing with rage and her cheeks turning pink. "We have no clues, no means, no Amy's tracker. Nothing!"

"What if I tried to contact Central Control?!" Amy stated suddenly.

"You don't know who they are," Raye said.

"Yes, but I don't have to know who they are to figure out how to reach out to them."

"Wait, what? What happened to your tracker, Ames?" Lita asked.

Amy did not get to elaborate. The lobster tank in the back of the market exploded, sending water everywhere. Suddenly a large crab-like creature stood before them. "Oh hell no," the clerk muttered, running though the back exit. The rest of the crowd milling about shrieked and ran off, too.

"You fucking stole, Luna!" Serena exclaimed angrily. She transformed into Sailor Moon almost instantly, her regard for secrecy long-forgotten. She could hear the sounds of the other girls transforming behind her, and she could hear the crab monster making some kind of remark about having fun, but nothing really registered except for her anger.

" _Moon Tiara Magic!"_ she exclaimed. A bright, white light exploded from her. When she could see again, there was a dark mark on the wall where she had attacked. There was no longer any sign of the Negaverse creep, but when she turned back to the girls – the Sailor Scouts now – they were all looking at her with concern.

"Oh, whatever," she muttered at them before running away.

* * *

She was standing on the roof, the roof she had stood on before when she overlooked the docks. Her pigtails swung in the breeze as she looked up at the stars above her, but their twinkling did little to change her mood. She could feel the anger pulsing throughout her veins. She felt him behind her long before he spoke.

"I'm not really in the mood to speak with you today, Tuxedo Mask," she said tightly. "It might be better if you just go."

"Maybe I don't want to leave? Last I checked, you didn't own this building."

Sailor Moon growled. "Are you trying to be difficult on purpose?"

"I'm a very difficult person," he said, in that same amused tone he had used with her the last time they had interacted.

"Why do I feel like you're actually being honest with me?" Sailor Moon rolled her eyes.

"Because I am," Tuxedo Mask said, and then hands on Sailor Moon's shoulders forced her to turn around. Tuxedo Mask was staring at her, and almost disappointingly. "I am not entirely sure what happened just now, but anyone with eyes can see that you're throwing a tantrum like a spoiled little brat."

Sailor Moon had never felt more betrayed or attacked than she did in that instant. If Serena were in any other kind of mind set, she might have even felt heartbroken that her dream hunk was saying all these things to her.

"You don't know _anything_ about me, Tuxedo Mask," she said. She then charged at him, crashing him full force into the rooftop doorway. Nothing but rubble and a bent doorframe remained, but Tuxedo Mask just tsked as he stood and wiped debris from his shoulders.

"Is that the best you've got, Sailor Moon?"

Sailor Moon lunged at him then, swinging punches he managed to duck. He then brought out his cane and began to lob attacks at Serena, which she wasn't entirely successful at dodging. When Tuxedo Mask managed to kick Sailor Moon into the opposite ledge, she got up quickly and kicked Tuxedo Mask's feet out from underneath him. He retaliated with a rose which grazed her jaw. Sailor Moon froze and put her hand to her cheek which was already starting to bleed. But all she could concentrate on was the sheer amount of relief that flooded through her due to the pain, almost like it was exactly what she needed.

"I thought I told you not to help me," she said seriously.

"Who said anything about helping?" Tuxedo Mask slammed his cane against the side of her face and she cried out in pain before falling to her knees. Tuxedo Mask loomed over her, just as he had not very long ago and explained what a tourniquet was. This time he wore a shit-eating grin and said, "I guess I win."

And Sailor Moon, despite herself, was smiling, too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Raye was the first to speak after Sailor Moon stormed off. "I can barely stand her these days."

"She was kind of the worst she's ever been, huh?" Jupiter said as she stepped around the broken glass and debris and grabbed her wrapped salmon from the counter. She sniffed at it. "Do you guys think this is still edible? I was planning on making us dinner."

"Who cares about your stupid fish right now, Jupiter? Mercury was talking about Central Control."

Sailor Jupiter sighed. "I know! I was just asking a question. So what was your plan, Mercury?"

Sailor Mercury had turned away from the other girls and was looking towards the docks and rolling waves with interest. "It's night out," she said.

Mars stood next to her. "I guess you're right."

Mercury shook her head. "My sense of time must've been totally off."

"Well it's pretty easy to get confused when Serena's acting like that," Jupiter said as she put the salmon back in place. ("I didn't pay for it, anyway," she explained.)

"I wasn't really that surprised by Serena's actions. Luna's disappearance is obviously a warning sign, and Luna is quite the mother figure to her in many ways." Sailor Mercury de-transformed and the other girls followed suit. "And then there's the matter of this," Amy said, bending down to her bag and pulling out her small computer. She flipped it open and typed something, then gave a sad shake of her head.

"It's still not working?" Raye asked.

"Yes. My first assumption, of course, was that the Negaverse was behind this, I guess you would call it _hacking_. But there's no benefit to them doing so. Having access to the network that this computer runs on would give them ample means to track us. Plus, there is, of course, my previous thought that whatever was affecting Serena was not Negaverse related."

"The entity?" Lita asked.

"It's my most solid conclusion," Amy said simply. "I considered the possibility that Luna had messed up the system as a means of keeping valuable information out of her captors' hands. But this is not a simple computer by any means. It's magical in many ways, and I really think that its ineffectiveness might somehow be related to sensitivity to magic surrounding us. When Serena called Raye and I in a panic about Luna and asked if we could help put up flyers, I began to suspect a similar situation."

"You began to suspect that Serena was like the computer?"

"I began to suspect that Serena's moods were fluctuating along with a certain kind of magic, and, if so, the computer was just as likely to be affected given its source, and when the computer finally showed signs of that, Serena was at her most frantic. That means that Serena is a bit more sensitive to this magic than most, but she's a sensitive person in multiple ways, so..."

"She spit gum in my hand," Raye said flatly.

"Now, wait a second, why did Serena call you two, and what about Luna?" Lita asked.

"I'm not sure about the first, but there are multiple reasons for Luna to disappear. It could be nefarious: Negaverse or Entity related. It could be Central Control-related. She never told us where they were located, or how she communicated with them, except that it was electronically. She could've been told to go on some mission we're unaware of. But with everything going on, we should be alert. Not manic, like Serena was."

"And as for why she didn't call you," Raye offered, "I bet it had to do with you hopping off with her dream-y Tuxedo Mask."

Lita almost blushed at that. Amy gave her an odd look. "Yes, I figured you spoke with him during the battle. What exactly did you talk about?"

"Well, I, uh, I figured that Serena always seemed happier after she saw him, and I thought maybe if he talked to her some more it might help. So, you know, I asked."

"You asked this person we don't even know to babysit Meatball Head?"

"No, no. It wasn't like that. Well … not entirely."

"I understand why you did what you did, Lita. After her last encounter with Tuxedo Mask, she seemed much calmer," Amy said. "But that doesn't mean it was very wise."

"Her last encounter? Oh, you mean when he forcibly undressed her while she was bleeding her guts out?" Raye had gotten a second-hand version of the story out of Amy eventually.

"It was a stupid move on my part, and he didn't agree, so I'd really rather not talk about it anymore. You guys really think Serena might be mad at me?"

"Who cares what she thinks, she's going crazy because of some magical force we don't even know what to do about," Raye said. She turned to Amy. "Didn't you say you could contact Central Control?"

"I could try," Amy said. "My computer's signal is, in theory, operating on a different wavelength than virtually any other computer not operated under its magical influence. If I could send out some sort of SOS or something, we might be able to get a response. Not to mention I might be able to retrace Luna's footsteps, literally, and figure out how she does her business."

"'Might be able to.' Nice optimism, A," Raye said. "Now are we still having dinner, because I'm, like, starved?"

* * *

Darien had woken at around 4 am, which was not unusual in the slightest, although this time, the warm, pleasant feeling running through his veins was more than a little bit strange. He had never left one of his princess dreams without feeling a weird aftereffect, almost like the slight existential emptiness you feel after masturbating. But this time had been different.

Darien tried to roll out of bed, but he felt an intense pain in his left ribs and on the right side of his face. It was Sailor Moon's pain from earlier, still there, haunting him, but that, too, was a peculiarity this evening, because usually the feeling of her pain dissipated as she, Darien assumed, transformed out of being Sailor Moon. But not only did this pain linger, it do so satisfyingly, like his body was getting endorphins from the phantom notion of a swollen cheek. He felt Sailor Moon's relief, and joy, and amusement, too. All mingled with this pain.

He managed to make it to the sink and get a glass of water. He passed by a decorative mirror and gave himself a once-over. He looked more disheveled than torn up, which he appreciated. He had been too tired from his duel with Sailor Moon to care about anything other than his bed, and in more than one way. She was, in fact, a very instinctual fighter when she allowed herself to be, and she was certainly not one to give up easily. That was part of his problem. He had been enjoying his foray into fighting with Sailor Moon just a little too much. "You're a pervert, you know," he said to his reflection. He stared back unflinchingly at himself. He downed his glass of water and went back to bed. In the warmth and darkness his mind wandered.

He had never really considered himself a sexual person. He knew in a lot of ways that he had a sexual capacity, and that of the human species, he was attracted to women. But not since that night when Sailor Moon had been so mouthy to him had he felt such an overwhelming desire, and it was, if he were to be honest with himself, only getting worse the more times he saw her. Maybe he should stay away from her; yeah, that would be good, and it would be avoiding Sailor Jupiter's stupid request. _How much could the Sailor Scouts know, anyway? Who said it was even the same Princess?_ But as he vowed to himself to stay away from Sailor Moon, he found that he just wasn't sure he could. Both his brain and his body were objecting to the idea. He closed his eyes and tried to remember her room. _The toys._ Jesus Christ!

As he slowly began to drift off again, he thought about the Princess. This time the Princess had given him a message and it had felt like she touched him. She had asked him for a crystal. She had not specified what it looked like or where it was or how he needed to obtain it or even how to get it to her, but his last thought before going to sleep that he was going to find out, no matter what.

* * *

"Howdy, Andrew!" Serena declared as she entered the Crown Arcade. Andrew was, as per usual, working behind the counter, though the only customer at the bar was a young boy sipping a soda. Serena looked at the arcade games and gave a huff of dissatisfaction at the sight of someone sitting at the _Sailor V_ game. She supposed she would just have to wait.

"Serena!" Andrew exclaimed, and she turned to see him gawking at her while the boy's cup he had pressed against the soda fountain overflowed onto his hand. He realized the mishap and hastily wiped at the cup before handing it to the patron and walking over to his friend. "Serena, what the hell happened to you?"

Serena was quite surprised by Andrew's overprotective nature, but she did enjoy it. While she was far past her crush on the handsome, older boy, it was always nice to get attention from a _handsome, older boy._

"Oh, you mean this thing?" Serena asked, pointing to her right cheek, which was black and blue and slightly yellow around the edges, in a long, cylindrical shape. It was also kind of hard to see out of her right eye because it was a little swollen. Andrew looked even more sternly at her, and Serena found it to be a bemusing sight. "Andrew, I'm fine. You of all people know how much of a klutzoid I am. I just ran into the door this morning because I was late for school."

Andrew didn't seem to believe her. "It looks like someone smacked you with a golf club."

"See? Who would I know who has a golf club? It's that razor blade thing, right? Like, why would a klutzy person have a bruise? Because they're klutzy, duh!"

Andrew sighed resignedly and threw a towel over his shoulder. "That kid just started playing Sailor V, Serena. Come to my counter and drink a free klutz milkshake while you wait."

"Do you mean, free klutz _chocolate_ milkshake?"

Andrew chuckled. "Whatever you want; just sit down."

Serena did just that, and then, while ruminating over her milkshake, she realized that Darien wasn't in his normal seat. "Hey, Andrew," she said, mouth full of shake, pointing her straw, "where's ol' Jerkface at?"

Andrew, who had been putting ice cream into the freezer, turned to face her and smiled. "If you mean Darien, he said he wasn't coming by today. Something about sleeping. Which is weird, because when I think of Darien, I don't think of sleeping. Maybe he's sick or something."

"Why don't you think of sleeping?" Serena asked innocently. "Is it because he keeps you up all night?"

Andrew blinked and frowned. "Are you implying that we sleep in the same bed?"

Serena swirled her straw around her glass and smiled mischievously. "You're the one who said it; not me."

"I'll have you know," Andrew said, placing his hands onto his hips, "that Darien and I actually have bunk beds, thank you very much."

Serena snorted, spewing some of her milkshake onto the counter. The two were then laughing so hard that the bruise on the side of her face started to ache and, without thinking, Serena hissed and rubbed it. Andrew frowned immediately.

"Serena, is that bruise about yesterday?" he asked.

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah, you know, when you gave me these." He gestured behind him to the few Luna flyers he had posted behind the counter. Serena had been grateful.

"What about yesterday are you talking about, like, exactly?"

"Serena, I'm talking about the fact that if your eyeballs could shoot laser beams everyone in this arcade would've been totally dead yesterday. You were really upset about your cat, but not like you usually are, with the crying and all that."

"Oh," Serena said, looking down into her glass; all that was left were frothy remnants of whipped cream and small chunks of still frozen ice cream. "Well, I guess I've been a little bit grouchy lately."

"I'd say you were probably more than grouchy, seeing as I saw Darien at campus passing the flyers around. You must've positively terrified him into it."

"I didn't, really," Serena said thoughtfully. She had barely even seen Darien the day before; he had just been another means to an end. Then her mind caught up to their conversation. _'He said he wasn't coming in today. Something about sleeping.'_ Suddenly, Serena felt like the world's biggest jerk. Darien was still suffering from endless demands from a princess whose existence he may never know, and he had still helped her that night and he had still helped her with her flyers. "I wasn't really mean to Darien yesterday. I think he just wanted to help me."

"He didn't make any comments on your, um, _artistic rendering_ of your cat?"

Serena's eyes widened. "No; why would he?"

"And you didn't call him the biggest jerk in the universe?"

"No, I just addressed him as 'Jerk.' You know, formally."

"Wow. I never thought this day would come, but I think you two are becoming friends."

Serena involuntarily grimaced at the word but then straightened her face. "We're not really friends, but I think, at least, now I can sort of understand why you've put up with him for so many years." She stood. "I think I'm gonna bounce."

"You sure?" Andrew asked as he wiped down her place at the counter. Serena nodded.

"I'm not feeling so much like playing Sailor V anymore. I was actually kind of hoping to see the girls. Thanks for the milkshake, Andrew, it was delish. See ya later!"

"Wait, Serena!" Andrew grabbed Serena's arm and pulled his face in closer. Why, oh, _why_ had Andrew never come so close to her face back when she still believed there was a chance that one day they could randomly make-out?

"What, Andrew?" she asked.

"If your, um, 'klumsiness' keeps being an issue, let me or Darien know and we will take care of it, alright?"

"Andrew, what are you talking about?"

"How did you get your black eye again?"

"I told you, I was running late for school this morning and I _ran_ into a door."

"It's Sunday, Serena."

"Oh, that's right!" Serena said hastily. "I must've hit my head harder than I thought! Oh, jeez, bye, Andrew! Hope to see you at my party!" And Serena quickly fled from the arcade. Andrew, who knew that his best friend Darien Shields was, in fact, a tuxedo-clad superhero, considered telling him that someone had obviously laid into Serena's face, and then decided against it. Darien had a lot on his plate already; Andrew could keep an eye and ear out for any problems she may have.

* * *

Serena stopped to take a breather after she was a few blocks or so away from the arcade. God, she hated running! She also hated running her mouth. That usually led to the running in the first place. Oh, what the hell must Andrew be thinking?! That she had an abusive boyfriend? Or maybe that her father...?! Oh, Jeez. She turned to face her reflection in a shop window.

The bruise was a bit garish, maybe, but not really alarming. It would probably be gone by tomorrow. But why had she added in the bit about school? "Probably because school totally sucks, and I would burn my hand off if it would mean my mom would let me out of it!" Serena declared to her reflection. A few passers-by on the street gave her a look, but she ignored them. The bruise was kind of nice, actually, because now she could remember how it felt to fight Tuxedo Mask. She had liked it. It had taken her mind off of the dream, which still came every night like clockwork, and off of Luna, who Serena missed terribly. She actually felt good today. She could solve things! She could do good for the world!

She then began to walk determinedly in the direction she was facing. She wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do, but then she saw the post office and had the greatest idea! She would write Darien a get well/thank you card. A card was the perfect way to show that she appreciated his help, and also, did not hate him entirely. And while she was at it, she could write cards to the girls, too, letting them know she didn't mean to act so angry around them. Hopefully they would forgive her.

When she stepped into the building, she was pleased to find that next to the cards was a desk with a pen attached to a chain. Perfect! The cards for the girls were the easiest to pick out: A card that simply said, "I'm sorry," in a nice font on front for Raye, a card with a bunch of puppies on it for Lita, and a card with a computer on it for Amy. Inside, she wrote personalized messages for each of her friends, letting them know how dear they were to her and how sorry she was. Getting a card for Darien, however, proved to be rather difficult because she didn't really know anything about him. Well, she knew that his parents were dead and he was rich, but neither of those things seemed particularly relevant to the art of picking out thank you cards. She settled for a card with a red car on the front, since Darien had said he would drive her home, so that must mean he had a car. Unless he had a chauffeur or something? Oh, forget it, Serena thought as she went about trying to write the perfect message for Darien.

 _Dear Darien,_

 _Thank you yesterday for helping me. You've been nice lately, and that has been pretty cool. Thank you, I hope you aren't dying or anything._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Serena_

She had just finished signing her name when she felt someone bump into her from behind and with an oomph she both fell forward and felt a trickling of hot liquid down her arm.

"OWWW!" Serena cried, grabbing at her scalded elbow.

"I'm so sorry," a girl's voice said. But the damage was done. There was brown liquid all over the desk, all over the cards. The black ink was fading away as the cardstock turned to mush. Serena saw the words "total spaz" become unreadable on Raye's card. The coffee, with its unmistakable coffee smell, had ruined everything."I'm really sorry! Oh my gosh, I don't even know why I did that, it felt like someone pushed me into you."

Serena turned to the girl who had bumped into her - she was pretty, with a big red bow. She was biting her bottom lip and staring at the cards, clearly distressed. "It's alright," Serena said. "They were just cards for my friends."

"But you obviously worked really hard on them, and I had to go and spill my mug on everything!" The girl held up the coffee's to-go cup in her hand and stared at it accusatorily. "I thought you guys were supposed to be spill-proof."

"I don't even know how you can stand to drink that stuff," Serena said with disdain as she went about cleaning up the mess, gathering up the cards and dropping them in the waste can just a few feet away.

"Well," the girl said, "I don't really like the taste, so I add a lot of cream and sugar. Which adds a lot of calories, I know, but how else am I supposed to be awake at this ungodly hour!"

Serena couldn't help but laugh at that. "According to that clock, it's two in the afternoon."

"Exactly!" the girl said with a bright smile. "So you understand what I'm saying?" Serena grinned and nodded. "Good, so you'll let me pay for the cards, right?" And before Serena could protest, the girl was shoving some money into her hands. "My name's Mina, by the way."

"Mine's Serena," she offered with a grin.

* * *

Lita put the phone down and gave a sigh. The girls had all decided to stay the night at her apartment after dinner, and the next day, even as the time was quickly approaching three o'clock, it still felt like morning.

"Serena's mom said she's been gone all day, and that we should check the arcade."

"It would be _so_ like her to act like the freak last night and then spend the next day playing video games," Raye commented from her spot on Lita's sofa. She was sitting upside down, feet against the wall, fingers interlaced on her stomach, black hair flowing to the floor.

"Her flippancy is typical of her," Amy said as she sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at her small, blue computer. "But over the past few weeks she hasn't been all that typical, has she?"

Raye sat up and narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying, Ames?"

Amy shrugged. "I have a hypothesis."

"Tsk, tsk, Raye," Lita said. "You should know Amy doesn't like to share her hypotheses until she knows for sure she's right. It's how all braniacs work."

"Oh, yes," Raye deadpanned, "silly me for asking."

There was a knock on the door just as Lita was preparing to whip up some mid-to-late afternoon omelettes, and she answered it, spatula in hand. It was Serena, smiling widely despite the horrendous situation that was her face.

"Serena!"

"Hi, Lita! Are you all here? I really wanted to talk to you."

Serena let herself in, past the shocked Lita, and bowed to Amy and Raye in turn. The girls' eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, to all of you," Serena said sincerely, tears glistening in the eye that she could see out of. "I know you guys were just trying to help, but I was so worried about Luna… and I know that Luna wouldn't want me to act that way, all crazy and stuff. I'm really sorry. I tried to write you cards, but that didn't go too good …"

"Serena!" Raye exclaimed and stood up. "What the hell!"

"I did write you cards," Serena said quickly. "But some girl spilled some coffee on them. She paid for the mess, though."

"No!" Raye stomped her foot. "I meant, what _happened_ to you?"

Lita pointed her spatula accusingly at Serena. "Did you go back to the docks?"

"What?" Serena seemed confused. "What are you guys even talking about?"

"Luna told us about that time you fought those men," Amy said. "And you appear to have been in a fight again. Tell me, were you in your Sailor Scout uniform when you had this battle?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "What is this, the Spanish inquisition?" She plopped onto Lita's sofa and slouched forward. Lita went about making sure the food didn't burn.

"If you could tell me what the Spanish Inquisition was, I'd be impressed," Amy said rather harshly, "and I'd prefer if you just answered my question."

"What was the question?"

"Serena," Raye spoke slowly, "what the hell happened last night?"

Serena sighed, dropped her head and whispered something.

"What did you say?"

"I said I met up with Tuxedo Mask."

Lita dropped the frying pan she was holding. Her mind raced. She had not agreed to Tuxedo Mask's plan, so in theory, he shouldn't have agreed to hers. She turned quickly to the girls, who by now were all staring at her. Serena, poor, little Serena, with her half-swollen face. Was this a … _threat_?

"You're saying he hurt you?" Lita growled. "I'll wring his neck."

"No, no. He didn't hurt me."

"So who bashed your face in, then?" Raye asked.

"Well, it was Tuxedo Mask, but he didn't hurt me. We were, like … what's the word for when you're fighting nicely?"

Amy raised an eyebrow. "Dueling?"

"Yes. We were dueling. He got me good a few times, but it wasn't a big deal. He wasn't trying to mess me up on purpose on anything."

"Serena," Raye said with a shake of her head, "you are so fucking stupid sometimes."

Amy got down on her knees before the seated blond and inspected her bruise. "So you're saying this fight was acceptable to you."

"Yes."

"You wanted to fight him."

"Yeah, what's the big deal, I was super angry. Better him than you guys, am I right?"

Amy stood. "I've done some research on the limits of our healing capabilities. If Tuxedo Mask were to bruise you in this manner, you should have healed by now."

"Research?" Lita and Raye said at the same time.

Amy looked a bit sheepish. "A bit of self-flagellation. I found that our uniform protects us from quite a bit of wear and tear. That's why I was so worried about you that night with the glass, Serena. Your magic wouldn't have been protecting you so much then."

"So if our magic heals us, how come Serena looks like a plum?" Lita asked.

"Because she must've enjoyed dueling with Tuxedo Mask, so she felt no need to heal. The same reason why she was in better spirits today. Lita's belief that he could help her seems to have some merit. Tuxedo Mask may be an important part in figuring out this entity business, but I'm not entirely sure where to start with him."

Lita wanted to speak up then, to say that there was something about Tuxedo Mask, and Luna had been right to suspect him. That he knew things he shouldn't have known, that he seemed manipulative and that he gave her a weird, bad feeling in her stomach. But she didn't. Because on the other hand, he seemed genuine when he said he wished Serena and the princess no harm. But now Serena had _bruises_ … that she wanted to _keep_? She didn't know what she was supposed to do. _Nine days._

"You're saying Meatball Head is keeping her injuries around like some kind of trophy?" Raye broke Lita from her thoughts.

"Subconsciously, yes, I think she is."

"Entity?" Serena asked. "What's that?"

"It's the magic that making you loco," Raye said bluntly. "Something weird's going on, but we don't know what."

"Oh. Magic?" Serena looked contemplative. "Yes," she said after a long pause. "I do think it's some kind of magic that's doing things to me."

"Serena, I think you should hold off on seeing Tuxedo Mask for a while," Lita said.

"Why? I'd like to continue to observe Serena's behavior as it's been and mark down all the odd occurrences. It may even help us locate Luna," Amy said.

Lita opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. Raye cut her off.

"Speaking of weird, what the hell's going on with you and Darien?"

"Me and Darien?" Serena said, furrowing her brows. "What about him?"

"Don't play dumb. You're being mean to the people you shouldn't and nice to the people you hate. It's all weird, magic stuff, but there has to be a reason."

Serena shook her head. "I don't hate Darien." She laid back on the sofa, putting her arms behind her head and crossing her ankles. "You can think someone's a jerk without hating them."

Raye glared like she wanted to say something else, but instead she turned to Lita. "I think I've been here too long. Grandpa's probably worried. Bye guys." And without another word, she was gone.

Amy began gathering up her things. "I should go as well." Lita walked with her to the door, and then Amy turned to the still-sprawled out Serena. "Will you tell me if anything strange happens to you, Serena?"

Serena lifted her head up. "Strange?"

"Yes, _anything_ out of the ordinary. I think it will help me figure this out."

Serena looked down at her hands. "I will, Amy."

After Amy left, Lita slowly approached her friend, whose demeanor seemed rather defeated. "Serena, you doing okay?"

"Yeah. I just, don't know what's up with me. I guess you guys don't either."

"Amy will figure it out, you know she will."

"Yeah."

Lita paused. "I do disagree with her, though. About the Tuxedo Mask thing." Serena looked up from her hands, blue eyes inquiring. "I mean, think about it. Luna says he's suspicious and then all of a sudden she's missing? It just seems fishy to me. I asked him to look out for you, you know. The other night when he pulled me away. And then he fights you? That seems strange to me. And I don't agree that you wanted that shiner. That's just twisted, you know? I think you should stay away from him." _Even if you wanted to "duel," that doesn't mean he can't hurt you worse. This has to be a message; please listen to me, Serena._

Serena didn't say anything. Lita pushed. "I just think you should do what _Luna_ would want."

Serena nodded. "You're right, Lita. That makes sense."

Lita felt relief flood through her. "Good. Now you better be up for some food because I'm sure there's some omelette that didn't make its way to the floor."

Serena brightened. "That sounds great, Lits. Thanks!"

And as Lita went about making their plates, Serena just happened to switch on the news.

* * *

Amy's mother was not home. It was unusual because her mother, the oh-so-busy doctor, had somehow gotten into a domestic mood as of late – making suppers, wanting _conversation_. It was both lovely and a burden, especially with everything spiraling out of control so rapidly. Amy ran to her room quickly.

Despite what Serena thought, Amy was taking Luna's disappearance very seriously. Without the computer, there wasn't much she could do to locate the magical forcefield that seemingly surrounded the cat, just as it did the rest of them. How the computer quantified and reacted to magic was another mystery that Amy did not understand, but she wished she had the damned device now. She had somehow been prepared for it to shut off when there was magic appearing _everywhere_. "Something big" was happening all right. Of course, she had no clue what it was.

It didn't matter at that particular moment, however. Amy had decided to test something. She held up her transformation stick. " _Mercury Power_!"

Was Sailor Moon really as powerful as being able to overthrow their healing capabilities? Her magical field had always been larger than everyone else's, but not shockingly so. And how was it that Tuxedo Mask happened to always find the girl, even when she was not stationed in a position long enough for a formidable battle? Amy had been suspecting for a while that he must've been able to read the Moon guardian's field. Therefore, the idea that Serena's magic was fluctuating – most recently in the powerful direction – seemed to hold some merit.

Amy pulled a letter opener off her desk. "I wish to inflict this injury on myself!" she declared, as if uttering it made it so. Maybe it did; she still didn't understand how the girls were able to focus their powers. She slit her arm at the elbow and hissed at the pain.

She de-transformed and fell to the floor. Her now unblemished arm stared back at her, taunting her, really. It seemed consistent with her theory that despite being similar, Amy and Sailor Mercury were two different people. What she should've seen as a scientific victory now troubled her. Serena was changing – she was almost sixteen, of course, and changes were par for the course. Maybe Amy was just reading too much into things. But then again, the existence of the Negaverse – a void seemingly removed from time and space - posed a peculiar scientific quandary that only Amy seemed to be in the position to investigate.

She jumped to her desk and turned on the computer and began to search through articles on "Quantum Physics."

* * *

Raye was almost home when she heard the music. The absolutely ancient music with the crooning voice. "Oh, no," she groaned. Her grandpa liked to play those kinds of songs when girls were around so he could impress them by singing along. It was sure to be a complete disaster when she got there. She had to save some poor girl from her miserable fate, and she quickened her pace.

But then, the music slowed down. Everything slowed down. Even when Raye took her steps it was like she was watching herself in slow motion. The voice in the song sounded now like a deep-voiced demon and the piano lowly grumbled, each note now reverberating in the air. Her surroundings lost their color. The bushes to her right began to pull away from her as if being sucked in on themselves.

The magic around her was so intense, she felt like vomiting. But, as quickly as it happened, as quickly as she could absorb it, for Raye's mind seemed to be slowed down, too, everything went back to normal. Raye was back to walking quickly and made it to the temple stairs in what felt like record time. Everything almost seemed too fast now. Her head was beginning to ache.

Her grandfather did indeed have his radio on, and it was on the ground next to him. He was talking to a blond girl in a bow, whose back was turned to her. Her grandpa was telling her a story, gesturing wildly. "And so I said, the best part about being short, I'll have you know, is girl's skirts!"

The girl chuckled. "Ha ha, that's a good one!" she said good-naturedly, but Raye swiftly went about saving her from her fate.

"Grandpa!" she said as she went to the radio.

"Oh, hello, Raye! I was just telling this lovely young lady a joke."

"Yeah, the one about the men in the bar insulting each other; I've heard it a million times, Grandpa."

The blonde turned to Raye and smiled brightly. "I don't think I've heard it before, so I thought it was funny. My name's Mina."

"It's nice to meet you, Mina. I'm Raye." Raye shook the girl's hand and then reached for the radio knob, when a special bulletin sprang across the news.

"Attack in downtown?" Mina said with worry. "That's not too far from here."

"No," said Raye resolutely. "It's not. Grandpa, please leave our guests be."

"Really," Mina said, "he didn't bother me at all."

"You hear that, Raye? I didn't bother her."

"Whatever. I'm just going to put my stuff in my room and then I have to leave, okay?"

Raye knew the girls couldn't communicate via their communicators anymore, but she hoped they heard of the monster attack – not only did they have to help people, but she had to let Amy know what had just happened.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter were the first to arrive at the scene of the attack: a strip mall in a rather unassuming neighborhood. Upon entering the parking lot, the pair pushed their way through the crowd of people running to their cars. The giant pin needle had a distinctly feminine face that shown with glee upon the appearance. The patrons of the acupuncture studio were strewn around her feet.

Sailor Jupiter immediately went on the offensive. "Jupiter Thunder!" but she was a second too late and the monster had already let out an attack of smaller needles, one of them slicing Serena across her shoulder. " _Ouch_!"

"Sailor Moon, are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she replied, wiping at the blood that slowly appeared. "I just can't believe that this prick pricked me!"

Jupiter chuckled, almost as if glad to see that Serena wasn't storming off in a rage. "I don't know if the other scouts will be able to get here since our communicators aren't working. You willing to help me take this creep out?"

"Most def!" Sailor Moon replied enthusiastically. She then turned to the monster. "People come to get acupuncture so that they can feel relaxed and relieved from the things that ail them. To take that away from them is the most cruel thing that someone can do! In the name of the moon, I shall punish you!"

"What's with all this gabbing?" the monster asked. "What do you little punks want?"

She was cut off by someone in the distance. "Mars Fire!"

The fire beam exploded onto the creature's long, silver body, but she just seemed to absorb it, glowing a pleasant orange for a second. "Oh no!" Sailor Mars exclaimed as she joined her teammates.

"That thing's made out of metal, I don't think we'll be able to attack her with either lightning or fire," Sailor Jupiter said.

"Have either of you heard from Sailor Mercury?" Sailor Mars asked. The other girls shook their heads. "Well, I need to tell you guys, something weird happened to me when I was walking home."

"Weird?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Yeah, like… _entity_ -related."

Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter exchanged glances.

"What happened?"

"Well –"

Just as Raye began to explain, the girls were attacked with a barrage of needles. "If you're going to have a conversation the least you could do is get to the _point_!" The monster cackled.

The girls managed to evade most of the needles, except for Serena, who ended up getting stung on her bottom.

" _Ee-ouch_!" she shouted as she fell to the ground. "Really," she grumbled, "is all this necessary?!"

"Well, I'm glad to see you're back to your regular klutzy self, Meatball Head," Sailor Mars said from her crouching position, "but honestly, let's think. Can you attack it with your tiara yet?"

Serena shook her head. "I don't think so."

"We need Mercury, she could rust her or something," Jupiter said, whilst lying on her back.

"Exactly! Any other attack seems useless," Sailor Mars said exasperatedly, just as more needles went flying by the girls. One landed next to Serena's head. She gulped. "I kind of want everything to slow down, like it did before."

"What do you mean slow down?" Jupiter asked.

"When I was walking home, I heard music from the temple and then everything slowed down. Even me. Then everything went back to normal. Grandpa was at the temple bothering some poor girl, and he had the radio on, that's how I heard about the attack."

"That's hella weird," Sailor Jupiter said as she crawled over to Mars's side.

"Exactly," Mars said. "And we need to tell Mercury ASAP."

"Need to tell me what?" Sailor Mercury crouched behind them.

"Major clue to the entity, but first, can you ice the bitch?" Mars asked, tilting her head to the pin monster.

"Can do." Mercury stood. "Mercury Bubbles!"

Everything was covered in a fog and the creature groaned. "It's hard to mooveeee…"

"That's your cue, Sailor Moon," Jupiter said.

"Moon Tiara Magic!" she said without even thinking, without even knowing which direction she sent her attack in – but she knew it was right. She just felt it. There were some things she liked about being a Sailor Scout, she realized, and those brief moments of certainty were certainly among them.

* * *

The park had a hidden alcove – an abnormally large hole beneath an overpass, really - where ivy grew along the walls and sometimes flowers blossomed. Sailor Moon was sitting there, thinking. She hadn't really been expecting to see Tuxedo Mask after the battle; most of the time he didn't show, but she felt disappointed that this time he hadn't.

The girls had spent a long while discussing Raye's experience, but she hadn't really been able to listen to the story. The girls all seemed to think this was a puzzle they could solve; that somehow if they just found the right pieces they could make Serena less unstable and bring back Luna. But they didn't even know about Serena's sleeping problem, and Luna's disappearance couldn't possibly be related to her dreams, could it? It was like they were looking for clues in all the wrong places.

But even if she wanted to express that, she couldn't. She couldn't fathom telling another person about her dreams because the feelings were just too much. She thought about the girls' observations that Tuxedo Mask was the only one who seemed to make her feel better – and that just made her horribly embarrassed. Her crush was impairing her judgment. Lita had been right; Luna had tried to warn her about Tuxedo Mask, but she hadn't listened. It seemed almost disrespectful to want to see him now. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knee tops. She was still feeling good, but it was Tuxedo Mask adrenaline residue, that she knew. She would be back to feeling angry tomorrow after having to sleep through another sleepless night. After having to sleep another night without Luna by her side.

"Why are you moping?" a very familiar voice asked, and she looked up to see Tuxedo Mask standing a fair distance away. It was night now and the moon seemed to be reflecting on his face.

"A girl's allowed to mope. And as you can see, there's no monsters here, so I don't need your help in battle. Please feel free to move along." Serena tilted up her nose.

Tuxedo Mask furrowed his brows. "I thought you might want to practice fighting again." He smirked. "I can still see where I got you last time."

"No, thank you, I think I will just stay here moping." Serena tilted her head up further.

Tuxedo Mask took a few strides toward her. "I'm extending a friendly invitation," he said coldly. "Why are you being so harsh?"

"I'm not being harsh, I just don't feel like dueling today, and, to be perfectly honest, I don't think we should speak much more."

A flicker of anger flashed across Tuxedo Mask's face. "Did the other girls put you up to this? I thought you said you trusted me?"

Serena decided to look at him then. " _Should_ I trust you? Are you on our side?"

He seemed to pause. "I'm not sure. I can't give you a better answer than that, Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon stood and closed the distance in between them. "Sailor Jupiter is the one who told me to stay away from you."

Tuxedo Mask quirked an eyebrow. "That's interesting considering that she asked me to keep an eye out on you."

"I know," Serena said, "she told me about that."

"Oh," Tuxedo Mask said. "So you know about _that_."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Yes, but … if that's why you're wary of me, please understand that I must do what I feel is necessary, for myself. And if in the end that conflicts with what the Sailor Scouts need to do, I'm sorry."

Serena now felt entirely lost. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh… " A flicker of what might be relief flashed across his face. "Jupiter only told you her side of things."

"Her side?"

"Look, the thing I want you to know, Sailor Moon is that, is that… I track you down of my own volition. I don't know why I do it, but I do. I wouldn't want you to think otherwise."

Tuxedo Mask had seemed hesitant about this revelation, but Sailor Moon still wasn't sure what he was getting at. "What does that mean?"

Tuxedo Mask broke out into a grin then, like Sailor Moon had just said the funniest thing in the world. "It means it's my choice to harass you, no one else's."

"Oh," Serena said, and then she felt the blush grow from along her cheekbones and even to her nose, which, up until that moment, she hadn't known was possible. But then she shook her head. "I'm sorry. We can't be friends. You said yourself you can't be on the Sailor Scouts' side, and I have to protect my team."

Tuxedo Mask took another step closer. "Who said we had to be friends?" Serena looked up, and suddenly started to feel light-headed. This was like all of those fantasies she had had – the ones where he had swept her up into his arms and ravished her madly. Well, maybe that wasn't quite right. Serena's fantasies always seemed to stop at the moment he brushed his lips against hers. But in those fantasies he had been rather intense and passionate. Right now, he seemed to have some sense of humor about him, but other than that he was as inscrutable as ever.

She promptly slapped him across the face, and Tuxedo Mask staggered backwards. Serena wasn't entirely sure why she did it, but then she saw the shocked look on his face and almost laughed. "That's for this!" she said, pointing to the now-nearly faded bruise.

Tuxedo Mask held a hand to his cheek. "Low blow, Sailor Moon." With his other hand, he reached into his jacket and pulled out his cane, whipping it out to full-length. Serena laughed. "Just try to catch me!" she shouted gleefully and she began to give chase, and she could feel Tuxedo Mask close on her tail. He was just about to catch her when she heard a woman exclaim, "Help! Help! Help!"

She stopped suddenly, and Tuxedo Mask crashed into her back, although he grabbed her by her arms before she could fall face first into the dirt, instead leaving her to dangle a few inches above the grass, her hair flowing to the ground. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Yes," Tuxedo Mask said, all humor evaporated from his voice. He pulled Sailor Moon to her feet. "You stay here; I will go check it out."

"You will do no such thing!" Serena objected and the two engaged in a staring contest until the woman cried out again. " _Please_!"

"She sounds like she's near the playground! Come on!" Tuxedo Mask said, and the two quickly ran that way. At the bottom of the hill, near the merry-go-round, a pair of rough-looking men were attacking a young woman. One of them was struggling to get the purse out of her grasp, while the other one way pulling at her blouse.

Sailor Moon ran towards them angrily. "Stop!" she declared. "Stop in the name of the Moon!"

Both of the men immediately ran towards the woods on the other side of the playset. "Oh no you don't!" Sailor Moon shouted. She chased after them, sprinting along the swings, using the top of slide as a pole vault, dropping dramatically in front of the pair. They looked scared out of their minds. "Don't worry." She smiled. "It'll be over soon!" With a flourish, she gave a furious roundkick that got both men in the face, and they fell to the ground, out cold.

When she got back to where the woman was, she saw her sitting on the edge of the sandbox, covered in Tuxedo Mask's jacket. He was standing above her, cloak draped across his arm, just in his white shirt, and it was such a jarring image that Serena almost couldn't wrap her mind around it. "Is she all right?" she asked.

"She should be. We'll alert the authorities, ma'am," he said, and then Tuxedo Mask went back up the hill toward the alcove. The woman looked tearfully at Sailor Moon.

"Thank you so much," she said softly.

Serena could only manage a watery smile in return. She then chased after Tuxedo Mask and caught up to him. "Where you heading off to?"

"You were very angry," he said without turning to face her.

"Of course I was. Who knows what those guys could've done to her."

"I've never felt the need to attack civilians before. Do you do that a lot?"

"Well, no… Not really. But they deserved it."

"They did." He still didn't face her. Serena wondered if she had somehow tarnished herself in his eyes.

She swallowed before speaking. "What you did for that woman was really nice. Staying with her, giving her your jacket, all that."

"It will be back next time I transform," he said. Serena allowed her eyes to wander along the back of his shirt – a view she didn't normally see. She could see the outlines of his shoulder blades and felt the return of the damned blush.

"I still can't trust you," she said.

"Still?" And this time Tuxedo Mask turned to her. He seemed neutral. "I thought you already did."

"But you can't say you're on my team's side," she offered, which he didn't respond to. "And besides, I don't know anything about you."

"Well how about we make a deal, then?"

"A deal?"

"Yes, every time you beat me in a fight, I will tell you one thing about myself."

"One thing?" Serena asked incredulously. "That sounds kind of lame."

Tuxedo Mask smiled then. "It'll be interesting things, I promise."

" _I'm just saying if there's even the slightest chance that he's dangerous, we should be alert, should we not?"_

* * *

"Ugh," Serena groaned, pushing herself up from her spot on the cement. She and Tuxedo Mask had been dueling for the better part of the evening. They were at an abandoned track out back of a long condemned high school. The cement was black, the chalk lanes that used to be there now barely visible, and the oval was surrounded by tall, tall grass that reached up to Sailor Moon's shoulder. They were practically invisible. Serena was almost grateful for that, because this duel was becoming rather embarrassing.

"Come on now," Tuxedo Mask said with his now-familiar amused lilt. "I'm sure you can do better than that."

This was their first official fight; Tuxedo Mask had followed her after their latest battle, as opposed to whisking her away – perhaps he had taken her at her word that the team didn't quite like him, but she found the thought of being in control of the situation rather exhilarating. Until he had promptly started to knock her down at every turn.

There seemed to be an unspoken rule to their battles. This was only their second round, but Serena could quickly see that neither one was to use the full force of their magic and was instead expected to best their opponent strictly with prowess and intellect. She didn't like that so much.

"I _can_ do better than that," she grunted as she pushed herself to feet, "if you would just stand still …" She removed her tiara and narrowed her eyes as if aiming at him.

"I'll just jump out of the way," he said easily. "Do better than that. Use your skills."

He then lunged at her rather dramatically, and Sailor Moon flailed out of his way, and, without even thinking, stepped on his cloak. He fell face first into the black tar and then skidded a bit on his face. Serena cringed and knelt at his side.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He looked up, the skin on his nose raw and bleeding. "I'm fine," he said, although his voice was a bit muffled, his lips having taken some damage as well. "But I'd say you won."

Serena couldn't help the grin on her face, or the instinctual jump of glee. "Yipee!" she cheered.

She had expected Tuxedo Mask to be a sore loser, but he seemed rather upbeat about the whole ordeal. "Congratulations, Sailor Moon." He stood and wiped at the shoulder of his jacket. "I suppose I owe you something."

He then slowly took off the glove on his left hand and Serena watched on curiously as his bare, normal-looking male hand touched one of the long, dry pieces of grass that surrounded them. Suddenly, as if mother nature herself had blessed the field, flowers began to blossom around them. Serena twirled around in shock as the lifeless became beautiful and whole.

"I didn't know you could do _that_!" she said once she turned to face him again. He smirked and replaced the glove.

"I know," he said, and then he was gone in his usual disappearing act, but they would meet again, several times, in fact, over the next few days.

Each battle seemed to focus on the physical aspects of their strength, and in one such instance Sailor Moon found her head locked in something of a chokehold. She tried to ignore the flipping in her stomach, or the blush that was spreading through her limbs as the two pushed against each other's bodies with all their might.

"You need to work on your form," Tuxedo Mask said. "When you try to fight you don't use your core adequately. That kick, for example, it may have knocked those guys out, but you used all the force from your legs. Imagine how much stronger you would be in combat if you used your whole body."

Serena grunted and felt sweat drops fall from her forehead to her eyelashes. "But why would I need combat, anyway, if you always come to my rescue Mr. Mask, hmm?" she managed to choke out.

He chuckled. "And who said I always will?"

Serena went lax, and Tuxedo Mask released his grip. "What's wrong?" he started to say, and then Serena twirled around and kicked him squarely in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards. He glared at her through his bloody nose.

"I happen to like the way I kick," she said with a smirk. "I think it's your turn to tell me something."

He looked at her for a long moment. "I don't get to decide when I become Tuxedo Mask."

Serena blinked, as that was one of the last things she was expecting to hear. "What? What do you mean?"

He shrugged.

"Come on now," Serena prodded, stepping closing and leaning over him so that her pigtails brushed against his arms. "You don't have a magical, like, oath or something that you say?"

"No," he said brusquely, "I don't have a _magical oath_. I presume you do?"

Serena blanched then, fearing she had said too much, but she merely shrugged in return.

If that revelation was bemusing to Serena, the next one would be the one to send her over the edge. They had decided to fight in the rain – well, really it had merely been a matter of timing, because those monsters never had the nerve to attack when it was an open playing field and there were few people or buildings around to damage, and they didn't seem to take rainchecks.

This time they were in a long-abandoned building, which probably at one point housed apartments, but was now filled with empty rooms and barren staircases. And a leaking roof, leaving everything in a precarious, slippery state.

"Do try not to fall over, Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Mask said, rather cockily.

"If I fall over, I'll make sure to fall on top of you, and then I'll win!" Serena shot back, managing only a slight blush, which she counted as a victory in and of itself. Now all she needed to do was kick the smarmy bastard's ass.

Tuxedo Mask was pretty good at navigating staircases, but he lacked Serena's agility, and she found that she could hop from one floor to the next with relative ease. It was the trying to be quiet part that was hard. It was a game of cat and mouse, a game of hide and seek, which Serena had always been hopeless at. Sammy still beat her at it at a regular basis. Maybe if she hadn't hid in the laundry hamper so much, or maybe if Luna hadn't always laid on top of it while she was trying to stay innocuous.

Her heart clenched at the thought of Luna, and then she heard a sound to her left. A weathered door creaked open. It didn't have a doorknob anymore. It said number 613, although the three was hanging off its hinge and swinging upside down.

She had to be careful. It would be just like Tuxedo Mask to play a trick on her. Carefully, she peeked inside. "Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing. There was a crash of thunder in the distance. She cringed. She couldn't see inside the room very well at all, but still she took a few tentative steps inside. She felt the fear twisting around her gut – she hated the dark so much. This was a stupid place to duel, and it had all been his stupid idea.

She walked a few feet more until everything was black and she couldn't see at all. "All right," she declared, "this is dumb. I forf—"

She barely got the words out before she was grabbed from behind, and she was surprised to feel relief at recognizing the grip as belonging to Tuxedo Mask – a man she knew she shouldn't entirely trust – and not, like, a ghost or something.

"What were you about to say?" he whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine, and then she bent her legs, and, using her core, flipped him over her head.

And then they fell.

The floors must not have been walked on in ages given the way they plummeted through them. When Serena opened her eyes all she managed to see was dust and flying pieces of wood and her hair flowing above her. Each floor they broke through felt like it was breaking every bone in her body, until they finally stopped and she realized that they had made it down to the ground level. Mustering the strength she could, she turned her gaze toward the man lying next to her. His Tuxedo was covered in grime and his crushed top hat lay a few feet away from him.

"Does this…" she started. "Does this mean I win?"

Tuxedo Mask didn't face her. "I didn't know you were so afraid of the dark."

Serena bristled. "I never said I was afraid of the dark!"

"No," he responded softly. "You didn't." He rolled over onto his side and placed his hand next to her shoulder. He was looking down at her with a strange expression she had never seen on him before. "You arm hurts," he said hoarsely.

"Well, no, duh, I just fell a bazillion feet."

"No, I mean …" Tuxedo Mask paused and then ran his fingers along her arm, stopping at the crease of her elbow. Serena realized he was practically on top of her, and this time her whole body felt alive with electricity, as if he was shocking her to her core. "It aches. You slammed it first through the floor and that's where all your pain is."

When Tuxedo Mask began massaging her arm, Serena almost swore he was going to kiss her, but instead he dropped his forehead to the floor next to her opposite shoulder. "Everything you feel," he whispered, "is what I feel. Every emotion, every bit of pain. That's how I transform. I am tied to you, in a way. I thought you did it on purpose."

Serena gaped. " _What_?!" She pulled herself out of his grasp and stood up, unsettling the dust and debris. "Why would I … Why do you … Where do you get off … ?"

He frowned. "It's not an entirely pleasant experience for me, if you can believe it."

"Why would you do something like that?"

"I don't choose to, obviously."

"Obviously! Because I would _never, ever_ … Stop it! I want you to stop it, right now!" Serena demanded with a point of her finger.

"I can't!" he said forcefully. "Don't you get it? And that anger that's been eating at you, I don't like it." He sat up and grabbed his hat, popping it into shape and then placing it back on his head. "I _wanted_ to help you," he growled.

"I never asked for your help!" Serena exclaimed. "I never asked you to fight me, and I never asked you to follow me around, and I never asked you to throw roses, and I never asked you to be such a … _voyeur_!"

Tuxedo Mask sounded even angrier. "A voyeur? Is that how you see me?"

Serena didn't know what she thought, to be perfectly honest, but the anger was coming back. She clenched her fists. She remembered what Lita had said, about Luna. What would she tell her to do? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Just stay away from me for a while, please," Serena said. "You said it yourself: we're not friends. I'm sorry if you have to deal with my problems, and I would never wish that on anyone, but I told you before, I don't need your help. Let's just go back to the way things were. Just, stay away from me for a while. I've got too much to deal with. And I can't deal with… I can't deal with _you_ , right now, okay?"

Serena kept her eyes closed, but she could feel his intense gaze still on her. "We made a deal, remember?" she said. "Back in my room, you said if I followed your advice, you would give me a favor. Well, I'm calling it in. Stay away from me for a while… just… _please_?"

There wasn't a sound for what felt like eternity and Serena half-feared, half-hoped that Tuxedo Mask had decided to just disappear again. She was then shocked by the arms that wrapped around her, the warm cloak enveloping her, the rise and fall of the chest against her face.

"You are very beautiful, Sailor Moon. I did not mean to cause you distress. I should've listened to you in your room. This battle is your own. I allowed selfish motives to get in the way of your best interests. I have heard you now. I wish you and your team no harm, and please let Sailor Jupiter know that I rescind my request."

If Serena was expected to say anything, he didn't really give her the chance to do so. He really was gone then, and she walked home alone in the rain, back in her school uniform, and it clung to her body like her fringe clung to her forehead. There was no visible moon tonight, as it was covered by clouds, but for once in her life she was comforted by the darkness. To know that someone had to deal with her problems – that, in effect, someone was a slave to her emotions - was a depressing thought. She knew she was a mess, even before this whole nightmare thing had started, and she felt pity for Tuxedo Mask.

She also felt a weird mixture of feelings in her chest, including betrayal, although she didn't know why, and sadness, and even a longing that pulled at her more deeply than the feeling of dying ever had. She had a brief flicker of a memory that never happened – of Tuxedo Mask pulling a rose out of his pocket and looking at her like she had just figured him out, but then, as soon as it happened, it was gone.

Had he really called her beautiful?

She knew she couldn't very well wander in the rain all night, and she didn't want to go home. She decided to go to Lita's, to tell her that she had been right, to ask her to _please_ make her some soup, and to deliver the cryptic message that whatever Tuxedo Mask had wanted from her now seemed to be entirely off the table.

* * *

 _Raye was running down the marble-white hallway as quickly as she could. There were blood everywhere – bodies. She recognized some of them – they were guards, wearing armor of some kind. There was a fight beneath them in the ballroom below._

" _Over here!" a voice ahead of her called. She saw a black cat crouched in the corner._

" _Luna!" Raye exclaimed. "Luna, I've never been happier to see you! What's going on?" She crouched in front of the feline, and the cat gave her an odd look but then nodded._

" _I see," the feline said brusquely. "I'd rather you stopped meditating, Sailor Mars. Now's not really the time."_

 _Raye gaped. "What do you mean? Do you know we've been looking everywhere for you?! We need you! Serena needs you! We are up to our necks in Negaverse creeps! Come back!"_

 _The wall across from them exploded into several pieces, and Raye ducked and covered her head. When she looked up, the cat was giving her a sad smile._

" _I'm sorry, Raye. But the mere fact that you're here proves that there's nothing I can do for Serena anymore."_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When Serena arrived at Lita's, Amy opened the door. "Oh, hello!" she said, smiling before taking in her friend's appearance. "The rain?"

"I was taking a walk." Serena sighed.

"Hey, Ames, who's at the door?" Lita called before stepping into view - a pink towel wrapped around her body and a blue towel for her hair. "Oh, hey, Serena! Come on in!" Serena stepped through the threshold and followed Amy toward the living room.

Lita didn't seem to be self-conscious about her unclothed state, and went about making a kettle of tea. "I feel really popular having so many late night visitors! Although I hope you'll be a little bit more fun to be around, Serena!" Lita said with a wink.

Amy's cheeks flushed pink. "I'm sorry to intrude. I just know that this is the most private place to collect my research."

"Research?" Serena asked, but then she froze in place as she saw the dozens of papers scattered on Lita's coffee table, the newspapers and various articles tacked on the walls.

The big white board in the middle of the room, emblazoned with Amy's recognizably precise print. "Woah," Serena exhaled. "What are you trying to do, Amy, solve a murder?"

"No," Lita said, appearing behind Serena. She handed her a cup and placed the towel from her head around Serena's wet shoulders. "She's trying to solve you, pretty much."

Serena stepped forward and inspected the board.

 _ **Negaverse attacks up by 54 percent compared to this time six months ago**_

 _ **Central Control reports "something big"**_

 _ **Luna = Silence, Central Control = Silence**_

 _ **Communication devices rendered useless in the past week**_

 _ **Raye's experiences = inter-dimensional fluctuation? Psychic abilities – magical fields, fields of existence?**_

 _ **Serena = Mood changes, Insomnia**_

 _ **Sailor Moon = Mood changes, Influential finishing powers, magic fluctuations (tiara strength)**_

 _ **Tuxedo Mask = Soothing Presence on Sailor Moon (Why?)**_

Serena's heart clenched at seeing Tuxedo Mask's name, but she felt compelled to ask about the insomnia.

"It was something Luna had mentioned when we were first concerned about you," Amy said, not even looking up from the laptop she was now typing away on from her spot on the couch. "Is the insomnia significant to you?"

Serena thought it over. She would never find a better opportunity to tell them about the dreams. Lita had joined Amy and was also staring intently at the computer as she drank from her cup. Serena took a sip of her tea, and Lita really was a genius because it seemed to warm her to her bones.

"No, it's just more emotional crap," Serena said. She turned to the girls and now Amy was inspecting her.

"You were out in the rain after our last battle. I'm inclined to believe you were fighting off your tension again. Tuxedo Mask?" she asked, before sipping daintily at her tea. Lita's eyes widened in surprise.

"Serena, you've still been hanging out with him?"

Serena sighed and hung her head. "Well, you don't have to worry about it anymore, Lita. There's something off with him; you were right." Serena plopped into the chair across from the other girls.

"You thought there was something wrong with him?"

"It was just a feeling. And I didn't like him hitting Serena around, even if it was her choice. Now tell me, what the hell happened?" Lita demanded.

Serena didn't want to talk about it. She stared down at her tea leaves instead.

"Serena, if something happened with Tuxedo Mask, I think it would be best if you told us. It could help," Amy softly prodded.

"Look, what happened with Tuxedo Mask doesn't have anything to do with Luna or my moods or anything, so why does it matter?"

"You may think it doesn't matter, but who knows? Any piece of information could help. I know there's a clue in all of this. Will you tell us to help me?" Amy was pleading, which was an odd tone for her. She motioned around her. "I need help, Serena."

"Yeah," Lita added, "and I need to know if I need to go kick his ass!"

"No! No ass kicking required!" Serena said exasperatedly. "I just told him to stay away from me because it's, like... You guys wouldn't even believe me if I told you."

Serena hoped one of the girls would come to her rescue and say if it bothered her that much she didn't have to disclose it, but, unfortunately, both of them seemed to be paying rapt attention.

"He... Tuxedo Mask only transforms when there's trouble. Like, if something's going wrong in battle, he feels it, and then he magically transforms. He doesn't have a say in it." Serena spoke quickly, hoping to hide the sheer magnitude of her emotional vulnerability.

"What?!" Lita exclaimed at the same time that Amy said, "Interesting."

"He told you this?" Lita asked. Serena nodded. "Well, how do you know he was telling the truth?"

Serena managed a small smile then. "Maybe the same way he knows when we need help."

Amy walked from the sofa to the board and updated it to say:

 _ **Tuxedo Mask = Soothing Presence on Sailor Moon = Shared Powers**_

"Shared?" Serena asked.

"Yin and yang, black and white. You affect him, he affects you. One mystery solved," Amy said easily.

"That seems to be jumping to conclusions," Lita said.

"I guess so, but Serena, if _I_ were in danger in battle, would Tuxedo Mask transform?"

Serena bit her lip. "No, I don't think so," she said.

Amy nodded as if expecting that. "It's so very interesting. There's much about our powers that we don't know."

"Did he say anything else "interesting?"" Lita asked, only with slight derision. Amy frowned at her.

"Well, he did say... He said something about you. I didn't entirely understand it."

That seemed to surprise Lita. "He said something about me?"

"Yeah, he said ... How did he word it? He said... He said he rescinds his request."

Lita looked shocked at that, and Amy said, "Speaking of interesting..."

"It's nothing. Really. It was just an obnoxious mind game on his part." Lita stood. "Let's hit the hay; I'm tired. Amy and I are going to hit the university library tomorrow morning to research if you wanna come with, Serena."

Serena was surprised, since Lita's tone implied it would be a day-long endeavor, which meant Amy was willingly ditching class this time. "Okay," she said.

"Great!" Lita said, back to all smiles. "Now come with me and get a change of clothes before you catch sick."

* * *

That night, while Serena snored away on her couch, and Amy curled into a ball on her recliner, Lita found it very difficult to sleep in her bed. The announcement that Tuxedo Mask could feel when Sailor Moon was in peril seemed to be a very concerning one - on one hand, it gave him an insight into the Sailor Scouts' battles that seemed to be potentially dangerous, and yet, on the other hand, it seemed to add credence to his insistence that he wished Sailor Moon no harm. Why had he continued to see her? Why had he "rescinded" on his offer? Just why had he wanted to know about the princess in the first place? These were the things she didn't understand, and these were the things she knew she would have to confront him about eventually.

 _Two days._

She turned over and hugged her pillow closer to herself. The moonlight was shining through her window as the rain had long abated. The alarm clock on her dresser warned her in neon green that it was half past 3, and she knew Amy had wanted to head out early and see if the university had any texts that could shine some light on the technology powering their devices. It was a long shot, but Amy had assured her that if she could find even the slight piece of useful information, their quest would be entirely worth it.

Lita lay there, listening to the sound of a train in the distance. The furthest corner of her room near her closet was shrouded in darkness. She saw the tell-tale black cloak swaying in the non-existent wind and the whitest of white masks peering out of her. "I'll figure you out, you know," she threatened the phantom. "I will."

He didn't respond, but that had been what she was expecting. She stared the being down for hours, her eyes never closing, but her mind entering some sort of deep meditative state, until the sun started to creep into her room, and then she went about waking the girls and making breakfast smoothies.

Serena grumbled something about skipping school meant sleeping in, but Amy was up and moving right away. "Today will bring good news," she said to Lita with a smile. "I just feel it."

"You know, Ames, I hope you're right."

* * *

The girls began the trek to the library at around 7:30. Serena was yawning madly, and Amy began to suspect that she hadn't slept much at all. Neither did Lita, if the bags under her eyes were any indication.

"I don't like this," Serena grumbled as they walked. "Can't we take a car or something? Walking is so lame, and that breakfast didn't really fill me up, and what kind of use will I be at the library?" She seemed angry again.

"I don't know if you'll be much use," Amy said, "but you were invited purely for my own research purposes."

"What am I, your guinea pig?"

"A lab rat for observation, for more like," Amy said with a grin. She truthfully was feeling very positive because she knew that there was a breakthrough on the tip of her brain, just waiting to be discovered. She didn't want to say so out loud, but she planned to observe Serena - her falling out with Tuxedo Mask may have affected her in ways that neither she nor the masked man could have predicted. And that could be part of the key to this.

She also did plan to research, and she had hoped Lita would be able to help with that, but she had been quiet during most of their walk. "You okay, Lita?"

"I'm fine," the brunette muttered, not looking up from the ground, but then she smirked at Serena. "Sorry my clothes don't quite fit."

"It's fine," Serena said as she stopped to roll up the pants Lita had loaned her. "I just wish you weren't so tall."

"I wouldn't trade being tall for anything," Lita said. "It's much easier to kiss boys when you're tall."

Serena groaned. Amy frowned. "I do hope you'll be able to keep your eyes on the _books_ at the library," Amy said. "We should be able to fit in since it'll be busy with students, but we don't need to draw attention to ourselves."

"Hey, I can't help it if older boys turn my head. Serena agrees, right?"

"To be honest, I just don't even want to think about boys anymore. They're too much trouble," Serena muttered.

"Hey!" a voice called. "Hey, Meatball Head!"

"Speak of the devil," Lita said.

The girls turned to see Darien walking towards them. Amy noticed right away that he looked a bit worse for wear - his face showed stubble, and she didn't doubt the eyes underneath his black sunglasses were tired.

"Hey, Darien," Serena said.

"Yeah, hey," Lita offered.

"Hi, Lita, Amy," he said as he approached the girls.

"Darien, are you feeling all right?" Amy asked. "You look a bit ill."

Darien managed a smirk. "It's nice to see you, too, Amy. But, yes, as your power of deduction has no doubt led you to conclude, I am a little under the weather."

"That sucks," Lita said.

"I thought you three were supposed to be in school," Darien said.

"We are," Amy said, "but I wanted access to your college's library, so I've decided to do so while class is in session to avoid drawing attention."

"That's pretty smart. You got a pen and paper?"

Amy dug around in her bag and handed some to him. He quickly jotted something down and handed the sheet back to her. "That's my username and password if you need to use the computers."

"Oh, thanks!" Amy said with a broad grin. "That may be useful."

"Do you have class today?" Serena asked.

"As a matter of fact I do, but that is why I am so glad I ran into you, Meatball Head. I knew I was going to need help with a distraction, and you just fell into my lap. Very fortuitous."

"What do you need help with?" Lita asked.

"It's Andrew's sister's birthday soon, and I need to get her a present. I know you may need Serena's valuable assistance in research, but would it be a bother if I borrowed her?"

Serena looked taken aback at the request. Lita looked like she wanted to go along.

"Oh, that's no problem," Amy said simply. "Lita and I will manage without her. See you later, Serena."

Amy pulled Lita away before either girl could object and continued down the road with her.

"What'd you do that for?" Lita said once they were out of hearing range. "I thought you wanted to study Serena today."

"We just had that birthday party for Lizzy not long ago," Amy said. "They're obviously lying to us about something."

Lita looked surprised at that. "Why do you say 'we'? Darien was the one doing all the talking."

"It reminded me of what Raye said about Serena's lack of antagonism toward Darien. I suspect they may have confided in each other about something. Just another of long things to add to my list."

"Serena's telling her secrets to Darien now? He likes to make her life a living hell."

"I don't know the rationale behind it. Maybe she's suffering from something too personal to even tell us."

"And you just let her go with him, when you don't even know what they're doing, and when Darien smells like bourbon? The strong kind I use when I cook?"

Amy shrugged, and the tall glass buildings of the university began to come into view. "I have no ill will towards Darien, and I'm sure Serena can manage him just fine. And if he's drinking, maybe he's in pain, too, and that's why Serena's been talking to him. Birds of a feather..."

"Birds of a feather have to be plucked off before you roast the damn thing," Lita said. She noticed a boy at a table underneath a tree and smiled. "I do think today will be fun, though."

* * *

Serena watched as her friends faded into the horizon and then turned back to the older boy standing before her. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"I was going to do some research of my own today, and since it concerned you, too, I thought you might want to come along."

"Oh, really?" Serena said, barely able to contain her curiosity. Darien didn't answer her and just began walking, leaving the bleary-eyed blonde to follow.

And walk they did. Serena wanted to complain but for some reason she didn't. She kind of felt like Alice being led into a rabbit hole. He led her through a residential area where the trees created triangular shadows on the ground, and the houses, the further they went, seemed to grow less and less populated. One, covered with boarded windows, was surrounded by a chain-link fence where a dog snarled at her, flinging drool ferociously.

"Where the hell are you taking me, Darien?"

"You still having that dream?"

Serena was. It had been getting worse as a matter of fact - more blood, some pain now. Soon, she feared, it would be unbearable. She didn't say anything.

"Then just keep on coming." He pulled a silver flask out of his coat pocket and took a large gulp.

And then, they came out on the other side. There at the top of the hill sat a rather innocuous brown house. There was a white sign above the door that simply read: _**Occult**_

They took the steep hill, and Darien seemed annoyed every time Serena had to stop and adjust her too-long pants. "Come on," he grunted the third time she did so. She kicked one of the broken bottles by her feet into the grass, but they were still tiny pieces of glass in the cracks where the sidewalk vanished.

When they got to the door, it looked normal. Darien rang the bell. No one answered. He went inside anyway. At the front was a cash register and long glass displays on either side that showed different things, like necklaces and Buddha statues. It looked like a normal store, Serena realized with a sigh of relief, although there was a lot of dust flying about.

"Hello?" Darien called. There was no answer. He took another sip from the flask before putting it back into his jacket. "Great," he murmured. "There's no one here."

Darien led Serena past the glass cases, stopping only once to inspect a case of various types of rocks, jagged sparkly blue ones and smooth lilac. "Oooh, pretty!" Serena declared.

"They're all right."

He kept going, and in the back of the store there was what appeared to be a library. Shelves stuffed to the brim with books, pages askew, each shelf slightly tilted in to the walkway as if they were entering a funhouse, or the shelves were ready to collapse at any moment.

Each section had a sign above it in the same design as the one over the shop. _Arithmancy._ _Bizarrities._ _Cleansing_. They were words that didn't make sense to Serena, and she froze when she saw where Darien was pointing.

"Over here," he said, and he led her past the first few rows until they were in against a wall, with a cubicle's worth of books staring at them. It was the section labeled "Dreams," but Serena's eyes kept flickering to the books across from them.

 _Death._

"You're probably wondering how I heard about this place."

"I'm wondering exactly what this place is. Magic?"

Darien pulled a book from the tallest shelf and blew away a great deal of dust. "Yes," he said dryly. "Can you feel it all around us?"

He took off his sunglasses and placed them into pocket. He opened the gray tome and began to lazily flick through it. Serena was caught off by his worn appearance, the lines around his eyes and his pursed, frowning lips. Darien had always looked so put-together, so effortlessly handsome.

It struck Serena that Darien really was handsome. She had always known that, of course, as it was very much a fact. Darien was tall, with a symmetrical face and a nice build: Fact. Sky is blue: Fact. Darien handsome: Fact.

But there was a difference between acknowledging someone's handsomeness and appreciating it. And in that moment, as she looked at Darien's thoughtful frown as he read the book before him, she was appreciating it. It made her feel weird.

"So who told you about this place?" she said after an extended silence.

"It doesn't really matter," Darien said. "It was my first lead on our problems, so I just went with it. Here. Make yourself useful and read this."

Not even looking up from his text, he grabbed a book from the middle shelf, which was about where Serena's chin was, and handed it to her. The book was so heavy, Serena toppled over. Darien sighed. "Stop playing around and read, Serena."

Serena grumbled and situated herself on the floor, "I wasn't playing; you just shouldn't go around shoving books in people's faces."

She thought Darien hadn't heard her, but then he smirked. "I think you could stand to be shoved books a few more times, given your grades."

Serena crossed her legs and began to look at the book before her. "That wasn't your best comeback, Darien," she said.

"Yeah," he admitted, "I haven't quite been on my A-game lately." He took another sip of alcohol before sitting down across from Serena.

"Why didn't you tell me we would be reading dream dictionaries?" Serena asked. "These are so much fun!"

"These dream dictionaries are supposed to written by real witches or something like that. I've been meaning to come here since I heard about it, but I ended up getting - " he paused like it physically pained him " - _distracted_."

"I've been kind of distracted, too," Serena said. "I didn't even think of consulting witches about my dream."

"And that was selfish on my end, too," Darien said. "Your dreams are horrible. I like mine, mostly. I should've tried to help you more."

Serena felt the odd sensation of a blush around Darien. "You don't need to worry about me. Your dreams sound nice on the surface, but they're asking a lot of you."

Darien just shrugged and continued reading. Serena sighed and began reading, too. There wasn't much said between them for a while. Serena was the first to exchange her book for another, but they continued to do so until there was an impressive pile between them.

Serena wanted to speak to Darien. Her thoughts were still all about Tuxedo Mask. It almost felt like she had gone through a break-up, even though she never had before. Her heart hurt. She almost trusted Darien enough to tell him everything, just so someone else could know that she was almost sixteen and in an enormous amount of heart pain. But she didn't.

"Oooh!" she said instead. "This one says that seeing a princess in your dream may symbolize your feminine side. What do you think?"

Darien looked up at her with a blank expression and she almost felt stupid for grinning, but then he smirked. "Firstly, Meatball Head, the princess is not a symbol. She is real. Secondly, I don't have a feminine side."

"What?!" Serena exclaimed. "You must be stupid to think that."

"It's true," he said, returning his gaze to his dictionary, lazily turning a page, but there was still a slight smirk on his face.

"Oh, you are the most feminine man I know!" Serena declared, crossing her arms. Darien laughed.

"Do you think every man has a feminine side or just me?"

"Every man, obviously. Don't go thinking you're special."

"Oh, so does that mean every woman has a masculine side?"

That gave Serena pause. "I guess not," she said. "I don't have much of one that's for sure."

She thought about the night before; she hadn't slept, just lay there, trying desperately not to cry - not entirely succeeding - over the loss of Tuxedo Mask, especially as it began to sink in. Her eyes flickered to the _Death_ section again.

"Oh, I wouldn't necessarily say that," Darien interrupted her thoughts. "Last month at the arcade, when you kicked my shin? Definitely felt masculine to me."

"Oh no! Not your poor shin!" Serena cried.

Darien laughed. "Keep reading, Meatball Head."

This time the silence between them was comfortable. Serena spoke up a few times with "fascinating" interpretations she found, but it soon became apparent that the books held little to no real value for Darien's situation.

"Listen to this," he said derisively, "this one says that the princess may be part of unresolved issues on my part. Like that's not what all the psychiatrists told me. Anyway, at least it adds a dose of possible past-life regression to make things more interesting."

Serena, who was on the floor, reading a book she held above her, sat up. "Do you have any?"

"Have any what?"

"Unresolved issues."

Darien gave a bark of laughter. "Of course I do. But who doesn't?"

Serena frowned. "Do you think I do?"

Darien's expression softened a bit. "Probably, little Meatball Head, but I think that's just part of being human." He was silent for a bit longer. "Did you ever find your cat?"

Serena felt that tug of sadness at her heart. "No, I still haven't found her. I wanted to write you a thank you card, but that didn't turn out so good. But I really appreciated it. You helping me with the flyers, I mean."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure it must be very hard to lose a pet." He returned to reading the page before him.

"Wait, you've never had a pet?"

"Nope."

Serena didn't know what to say to that – it sounded lonesome. But, then again, she had been pet-less before Luna had found her. And in many ways, Luna was much more than a pet. Still, it sounded like being alone. Darien seemed to be good at that, but Serena couldn't help but feel that wasn't a very good thing to be good at.

"Have you been trying to look up reasons for your dream?" Darien asked.

Serena blinked. "I hadn't thought of it. I wanted to help you with yours." Her eyes flashed back to the _Death_ section. There, on the top shelf, right in the middle, was a large, black leather-bound book.

"Well, lucky for you, I have been researching, and it looks like the biggest reason you may dream about –" here Darien slid a finger across his throat "- is because of stress or guilt. You been feeling stressed or guilty?"

Serena sighed. "I don't know. Maybe both. You think that's it?"

Darien took another sip. "No, I don't think that's it, Serena. We're both crazy, but at least we're sane."

Serena smiled. "You know, you're pretty fun to talk to when you're not being an annoying jerkwad."

"And you're pretty fun when you're not being an exasperating kid."

"Kid?!" Serena balked. "Look at all this work I've done for you." She gestured to the books. "I've read more than Amy would've made me, that's for sure."

"You got me there, Meatball. Come on." Darien stood and grabbed Serena's wrist. "This obviously isn't working."

"So we're leaving? We're not even going to pick up?"

"Whoever owns this store obviously doesn't give a shit about it, so why should we? Besides, we're not leaving just yet."

Darien led her over to the books that had held her attention all morning, and he easily pulled the black book off from the top shelf. "This is the one you were looking at, right?"

He held it up for her to inspect. The front cover with red font. The title of the book was simply, _Dead._

"Put that back," Serena said, swatting at his hands, "that book gives me the major creeps."

"We should at least see what it has to say," Darien said, moving his hands out of her tiny fists' way. He opened the book and began perusing it. Serena felt her gut flopping around.

"I don't like that book," she declared.

"You haven't even read it." Darien didn't look up. He read in silence for what felt like an eternity, making interested noises every few pages or so. Serena turned away, but couldn't keep her eyes from peeking back. "Hmmmmmmm," he finally said.

"What?" she asked, quickly looking at him.

"You may have been on some right track, Serena. According to this book, death dreams can be premonitions. But it says you must've pissed off the God of Time. I'd say it was useless garbage, but if anyone could piss off a God, it would probably be you."

"Time God?" Serena asked.

Darien showed her the page he was on. There was a black and white drawing, showing a disfigured old man whose face was rife with pain. His back was hunched, with lumps not unlike a camel's. He was bald, with a long beard which wrapped around one of his sandaled feet. He held a staff and wore a pocket watch. Surrounding him were clocks which seemed to be melting into him. Serena couldn't take her gaze off of the old man's eyes. They were filled with such … _sorrow_.

"That book _is_ garbage. Total garbage, with ugly drawings," Serena said before storming out of the aisle. She heard Darien shuffling behind her, and he sounded droll when he said, "I thought the drawing was kind of nice. Daliesque, almost."

She had reached the door of the shop and looked back. Darien was back in his shades, and was once again looking at the sparkly rocks.

"I didn't take them for your type of thing," she commented.

"They're not, really," Darien said, and he stepped past Serena and out the door. He did not begin to walk down the hill they came from and instead went the opposite direction. Soon they were on a normal sidewalk with normal shops on the other side of the busy street. Serena was still thinking of the drawing when Darien said, "The princess said she wants a crystal. Didn't get much more out of her than that." He stopped walking and leaned against a nearby tree and took another drink from his flask.

Serena joined him, walking out of the sunlight and into the shade. She briefly wondered what time it was, for the occult shop had felt like a void. "What is she like?" she asked. "The princess?"

"She's…" Darien exhaled. "She's complicated. Sometimes she's kind. Sometimes she sounds a bit cross. Most of the time she's very sad. I've never heard her laugh. She used to be very far away, she was at the top of the castle and I was on the ground, but now I'm on some sort of terrace with her. She's more desperate." He drank. "I don't think she's gonna make it."

"What's gonna happen to her, you think?" Serena asked softly.

"I don't know. Maybe I will be happy when she's gone."

"So you're not now?"

"Not what?"

"Happy?"

"Not particularly. I don't know. I don't think about it much."

Serena sighed. "I used to be happy," she said. She stared at her shoes. She was barefoot in them, since Lita had confiscated her wet socks the night before.

"Whatever in this world that makes you unhappy, Meatball Head," Darien said softly, "must be completely evil."

"You know," Serena said, giving a small smile, "I think you _are_ kind of good with people."

Darien smiled, too. "What a raving compliment."

"Andrew said he thought we might be becoming friends." Serena's caught the flicker of Darien's flask in the sunlight.

"What a terrible thing for him to say," Darien said with a laugh, before taking another sip.

"Darien," Serena said, "I think we _should_ be friends."

"I don't have a lot of practice."

"It's okay. I will help." And then, with the kind of reflexes that only approximately 300 hours of playing Sailor V could've given her, Serena grabbed the flask and ran over to the sidewalk.

"What are you doing?" she heard Darien cry, but it was too late. She was pouring the last remnants down the storm drain when she felt the strong arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground. "What the fuck are you doing?" Darien shouted, sounding positively furious. Serena kicked her legs wildly.

"I'm getting rid of this crap you've been stuffing down your throat all day!"

"I paid 200 dollars for the bottle of that!"

"Oh, excuse me, then, _expensive_ crap!"

Serena's foot made contact with Darien's shin, and with a grunt he dropped her. They faced each other, then, both red-faced.

"That was your grand gesture of friendship? Literally pouring something down the drain?" Darien asked, puffing.

"Yes," Serena said. She stuck her nose up. Darien looked like he wanted to smack her. Instead he just sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"You're something else." He began to walk away and Serena thought he was just going to leave, but then he turned back to her and gestured with his head for her to follow him. As they walked along, he slung his arm over her shoulder.

"You're lucky I was drunk, or else I might've pummeled you."

"Very polite, Shields. Threatening to beat a little girl up. What's next, stealing candy from babies?"

Serena was feeling better, and Darien seemed better, too, like the fight had taken the weight off the day. Maybe fighting people should be the solution to all her problems, Serena thought with mild amusement. Even the situation with Tuxedo Mask didn't seem so bad as Darien pulled her in closer and threatened to buy her the _Dead_ book for her birthday.

"Don't you dare!" she screamed. "And get my face out of your stinky armpit!"

* * *

At the library, Amy had come up with nothing.

Nada.

Zilch.

It was infuriating, to say the least.

Lita had been much more help than she expected, but she soon found her methodology frustrating. Lita liked to do things quickly. She ran around the shelves, haphazardly pulling books out as soon as she written their call numbers down, without even doing the basic evaluation of skimming the table of contents or reading the back or inside covers. Soon, the table they had co-opted in the back corner of the library was brimming with virtually every book on various technologies, including science fiction ones, which Amy had immediately dismissed as ludicrous, much to Lita's annoyance.

"You're in a glass house, Amy," she groaned, plopping her head onto the table. Her eyes were starting to ache due to all the reading, as she had told Amy several times, and Amy was starting to feel relieved that she didn't have to deal with Serena's complaints, as well.

"I'm going to go check the computers one more time," Amy said as she left the table. "Maybe there's a book we've missed. You stay here and try to sort through these some more," she said, motioning to the books Lita had brought over.

"Oh, all right," Lita sighed, picking up a book called _Theoretical Advances in Technology: Top Scientists Speculate_.

"I think we're past speculation at this point," Amy muttered as she weaved her way through the bookshelves. She was looking down at her Mercury computer, still unable to connect to its network.

She wasn't looking when she ran into someone, and she fell backwards. "Sorry," the words came out before she had even seen the girl she had hit. She was blonde and pretty, and looking at a scattered mess of papers around her.

"Here, let me help you," Amy said as she hastily went about helping the girl pick up her sheets.

"Thanks, that's really kind of you," the girl said. "I've been a bit scatterbrained lately."

"I can imagine," Amy said, handing her the papers, "you seem to be studying quite hard."

"I have been, if you can believe it!" The girl said with a laugh. "It's absolutely dreadful. I hate it. I hate books."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "You hate books?"

"I know!" the girl groaned. "Just take away my brain right now, don't you? Hey, you look smart, could I pay you to do this stuff for me?" she asked, holding out the papers.

Amy chuckled uncomfortably. "I would reject on ethical grounds alone, but I also happen to be in the middle of a big project myself."

"It's cool. I was mostly joking anyway." The girl smiled. "Thanks for helping pick up my stuff. My name's Mina. What's yours?"

"Um, Amy."

"Nice to meet you, Amy. Stay kind. That's a valuable trait." Mina gave a salute and then walked past. Amy shook her head at the weird encounter.

She bent down to pick up her satchel and took a cursory look at the Mercury computer, which she had stupidly left in plain sight. She was surprised when it began blinking.

"What…?" she gasped.

There, on the screen, was a cryptic picture. A trapezoid. An upside down triangle.

"Lita!" she exclaimed, and began to head towards the other girl.

They were back online.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 _Raye was almost home when she heard the music. The absolutely ancient music with the crooning voice. "Oh, no," she groaned. Her grandpa liked to play those kinds of songs when girls were around so he could impress them by singing along. It was sure to be a complete disaster when she got there. She had to save some poor girl from her miserable fate, and she quickened her pace._

 _Her grandfather did indeed have his radio on, and it was on the ground next to him. He was talking to Mina, whom Raye recognized even with her back turned. Her grandpa was telling her a story, gesturing wildly. "And so I said, the best part about being short, I'll have you know, is girls' skirts!"_

 _The girl chuckled. "Ha ha, that's a good one!" she said good-naturedly. She turned and waved at Raye. "Hey!"_

 _Raye grumbled and ran to turn the radio off. "I don't know why you let him bother you," she said._

" _It's really not a bother," Mina said._

" _See?" her grandpa crowed._

" _Shush, you," Raye said, but as her hand touched the dial, the news broadcast let them know about the monster attack._

 _She turned to Mina. "What do we do?" Raye asked. The blonde opened her mouth to speak but then the color drained from her eyes, leaving hard-boiled eggs in the middle of her face; mouth still slack as the color disappeared from her bow. Everything went white._

"Come _on_ …" Raye mumbled, eyes shut. "Wherever you are, please just show yourself. I welcome your presence, if you'll just tell us what you want."

Raye had decided not to go to school. Well, it wasn't a decision as much as a calling. She spent the day in deep meditation in front of the fire, hoping to gain some more perspective on the Serena situation. While she was not as stereotypically logical as Amy, she knew there was reason for Meatball Brain's attitude, for Luna's disappearance and ominous warnings through meditation, for the shift of … _something_ she had felt. The Entity was out there, in the universe, just waiting to be discovered.

The scene with the Mina girl had been particularly haunting, but nothing she could repeat. She saw the now familiar images of Luna, of blonde hair and blood, but nothing she could pin to time or place. She was about to give up entirely when she heard a slight tap on the door. She turned around quickly. "Yes?"

It was Chad, who sometimes stayed at the temple, and given the way he seemed especially nervous around her, she feared bad news. "What is it?" she asked sharply. "I'm busy, you know."

"Well, um… I don't know. I was just walking past your room and I noticed something strange."

"You noticed something _strange_?"

"Yeah, like, maybe you should come see for yourself."

Raye sighed and stood. "Fine," she grumbled, and she walked down the hall toward her room. At first, she had no idea what Chad was talking about. Everything seemed to be in place. She was a minimalist by nature, so her eyes scanned the room quickly. Bed: check. Desk: check. Bookshelf… She gasped. She spun around towards the doorway where she knew Chad was lurking.

"You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

"No, I totally just noticed it a few minutes ago."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"I told you as quickly as I could, Miss Raye, but you were in meditation…"

"Fine, whatever." Raye squeezed the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb. This couldn't possibly be the sign she had asked for, could it? It did seem awfully coincidental…

She heard the buzzing she had not heard for well over a week at this point. "Okay, well, whatever," she said quickly, ushering Chad out the door, "thank you for letting me know so quickly."

She picked up the communication device and saw Amy's beaming face. "Oh, Raye, I have wonderful news! Our systems are back online, and we've even gotten a new clue!"

"Yeah," Lita said as she popped into view, "it's real exciting."

"Stop that! Anyway, are you up for a meeting? There's a lot to discuss. It'll be just Lita and I, if that's all right; Serena said she was tired."

"Yeah, that's fine," Raye said, her eyes flickered to her bookshelf. "I have something strange stuff to tell you guys, too."

"Oh," Amy said, a brief look of concern covering her features. "All right, then," she said. "We'll be over soon. Bye."

Raye didn't remember hanging up, or putting the communicator back in her desk drawer. She sat on her bed and thought. Who, she wondered, would steal her entire collection of _Sailor V_ manga?

* * *

Serena's bed, for what felt like the first time in ages, was a welcoming, beckoning hand. Her limbs were exhausted from the long day of walking, and her brain was tired from the thoughts that she for some reason insisted on having. Thoughts of Tuxedo Mask, attached to her like a magnet.

Hadn't he said he chased her because he wanted to? But, then again, how would he know? It didn't sound like he had much of a choice.

She couldn't bear the thought of her pain causing anyone else pain – especially Tuxedo Mask. He was her _hero_. He was almost her friend. He was funny. He wasn't a spy, or a bad person, despite his reluctance to say otherwise. But he shouldn't have to depend on her. She was weak and she crumbled at the first chance she got. Raye really should be leader of the Sailor Scouts – she would have already beaten the Negaverse into a bloody pulp _and_ saved the princess by now.

The princess even made her feel worse. Not only was she useless as Sailor Moon, she was even more useless as Serena, as a friend. How was she supposed to help Darien? She couldn't believe it; not even a week ago, he had been a nuisance. She had been so dumb and useless that she had let his stupid jokes get to her head. True, they had hurt her and they had made her mad, but she was too quick to cry or to yell. If she'd even tried to talk to him, she would've seen that he was a major Jerkwad because he desperately needed friends, and in fact, _his whole situation_ made her majorly depressed.

They had gotten ice cream after the shop, but neither of them had spoke much during the treats. She could sense that he was as tired as she was, and she wondered if he, like her, was now in bed, the body giving in despite the barely setting sun outside.

Serena wasn't sure where her cavalcade of thoughts ended – She had been too tired to ask Amy how their communicators had started to work again; did the library really do the trick? – and where her dream began, because it all seemed rather sudden. This time, she was walking down a long staircase, marble white. The dress was the same, she now saw her shoes. Heels.

 _Click. Clack. Click._

The hallway was dark, but she was walking to some kind of ballroom. The moon shone brightly through the open windows, which she had recognized from previous dreams.

At the end of the staircase, motionless on the floor lay a black cat. Serena felt her heart clench.

"Luna!" she exclaimed. She ran faster than she knew she could, even in the white heels she now adorned, and dropped to her knees next to the cat. "Luna, are you okay?" She could feel the tears forming. She touched the fur, which felt so _real_ , she could barely believe it. It was Luna, all right. Serena brushed her fingers across the crescent moon marring the cat's forehead. She was so _cold._

"I'm sorry I let this happen to you, Luna," she whispered softly, now crying unabashedly. "I will make it up to you."

Serena woke up and sprang to a sitting position. Her room was now black. She squinted her eyes – her clock told her it was about 9 in the evening. She was breathing heavily and trying to regain her thoughts.

That dream had been so real.

* * *

Lita was staring at the empty space on Raye's bookshelf – and, to be honest, it was quite a sizeable one, as Raye was not a big reader – and frowned.

"So someone just snuck here and took all your manga?"

"No, I read several series," Raye said, pointing to the shelf above Lita. "Just _Sailor V_."

"This is very peculiar. Tell me, Raye, does this mean anything to you?"

Amy held out her computer and showed Raye the odd symbol it had been displaying ever since it had been reconnected to their network. Raye shook her head.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a smiley face of some kind? Can we get back to the matter at hand? Someone managed to sneak into the temple without being spotted or even _sensed_ by me and Grandpa! That's bad news."

"Not necessarily," Amy said.

"Not necessarily?!"

"Raye, did anyone else know where you kept your _Sailor V_ manga?" asked Lita.

"Stupid Serena borrows some all the time because she blows her allowance on junk food. Where is she? Am I wrong in thinking this is a Sailor Scout matter? Because, like, this has to be some kind of message, right?"

Lita felt shocked. "You think this is related to _us_?"

Raye nodded. "We're _Sailor_ Scouts and they took my _Sailor_ V manga. What if this is some kind of threat?"

"I don't think it's a threat," Amy said.

"How could it not be? You saying Meatball Brains snuck in here? Because, and I'm sorry you guys, but I doubt Serena would have the finesse to remove my window screen and then put it back in place."

Lita briefly tried to imagine the scenario. She could see Serena tangled up in the screen, crying out for help.

"Serena's been with Darien all day," Amy said. "I think this is actually some kind of clue."

"Clue?" Lita said.

"Wait, wait, you said two confusing things. First, Serena's been with Darien?"

"Yes, I believe he needed her help with something."

"What on earth…? Things have been so _weird_ lately… I told you guys something was up with her!" Raye plopped onto her bed with a huff. "I thought Darien hated her."

"Apparently not," Amy said.

"And what about this being a clue? How's that different from a threat?"

"Well," Amy stroked her chin, "I do believe that your manga going missing on the same day we retrieve access to the networks is a highly improbable coincidence."

"Yes, I agree," Raye said, nodding.

"And this strange symbol is, to the best of my deduction skills, a clue left by whomever let us back in."

"And you don't think that person could be …" Lita struggled for the right word. " _Evil_?"

"Evil enough to send a disjointed smiley face and steal some cartoons. I think they're just trying to give us a calculated message without revealing their identity."

"Or maybe they're giving us the _calculated_ message that they know how to get into our systems and they know who we are as Sailor Scouts?" Raye said.

"Possibly," Amy acquiesced. "Although restoring us ability to communicate with each other and stealing very specific, useless items that you were sure to notice missing right away doesn't seem like the work of an evil mastermind to me."

Raye bristled at the word "useless." Lita bit her lip. She could see both girls' sides.

"Why don't you tell me the story of Sailor V?" Amy asked. "I've been able to parse that she has similar powers to our own, but she was created before we started fighting crime, yes?"

"Yes, exactly," Raye said, and she started to recount the tales of the blonde, masked superhero. Lita started to feel the sleep tug at her eyes. She yawned.

* * *

Serena's feet seemed to know exactly where she was going, even if she didn't. The night was dark, and she felt exposed in her schoolgirl uniform she had put on without thinking – Lita's clothes seemed impractical, but now she wondered why she hadn't picked something more casual of her own. Maybe, subconsciously, she knew this was how he was used to seeing her. This was how they had spent the majority of their time together – fighting after school, in the arcade.

Those days seemed like a million years ago now, though Serena knew it couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks. The streets slowly turned from intimidating into ritzy as she made her way downtown. The penthouse where Darien stayed popped up before her. She felt relief.

She walked past the doorman with little trouble, but she feared that the little man at the desk might ask her where she was going, since she did, after all, stick out like a sore thumb. But the man didn't even spare her a glance as she got on the elevator.

Darien lived on floor eleven – 1102 was his apartment. She was glad that the elevator didn't fancily open into Darien's home, as that seemed intrusive, but as she stepped out into the meticulously nice hallway and heard the sound of elevator doors shut behind her, she didn't really know what to do next.

Nervously she walked to his door and knocked a few times, timidly. She waited patiently, but there was no response. She knocked harder. Still, nothing.

She had brief thoughts of using the Luna pen – becoming a handyman, or maybe a night watchman, or maybe just a doorknob expert. Instead she just whistled casually as she looked around her and slowly lifted a hand to one of her buns. The small bobby pin fell to the floor, but she could easily see it on the rather gaudy red and yellow carpet. "Oh no!" she said, acting like she had really lost it, in case there were cameras or something. "I've lost my pin!" she cried dramatically as she dropped to the floor. She made like she was feeling for it on the floor, while she picked it up with her right hand and tried to stick it into the keyhole nonchalantly.

Eventually, she gave up all pretense and stared at the lock intently, sticking her tongue out as she worked at opening the door. "Come on, you!" she said. She waited for any tell-tale click that the pin was working, but heard nothing until the sounds of the elevator doors opening caused her to stand up quickly and put her hands behind her back, against the cool metal of the doorknob.

An elderly, posh couple walked past her, giving her a strange look as they did. She smiled her most innocent smile. "Oh jeez, I hope my brother gets home soon! He locked me out again!"

The couple continued on and she breathed out a sigh of relief, turning her hand as she did, surprised to feel the weight of the door behind her disappear. "Oomph," she said as she fell to the floor. Darien's apartment was dark. And his damn door had been open the whole time.

"That stupid rat," she muttered, standing and shutting the door behind her. She made her way toward what she assumed was Darien's room, and was relieved to see the door was open. There was a canvas with streaks of red and blue above the black bed frame. Black pillows, black comforter on the floor, red sheets wrapped around him. He was sleeping, still, not visibly breathing. He looked pretty dead.

She noticed the bottle on the nightstand and sniffed at it, grimacing. "Darien," she said softly, "you shouldn't have to resort to this." But then again, she was starting to understand why he did. Weren't nightmares the whole reason _she_ was here?

She crawled onto the bed next to him and stared at him for a long while. She wanted to talk. But it seemed rather rude to wake him. She pinched his nose. He opened his mouth and let out raspy breaths. Okay, so he wasn't dead.

She imagined Luna, lying on that floor. She just had to wake him. She hoped he would understand.

"Darien," she said, flicking him softly on the forehead. "Darien, wake up."

He turned away from her, and she frowned. "Darien!" She punched his arm a few times. "Open your stupid eyes; I have to talk to you!"

At first she thought she would get no reaction from him, but then he looked at her, bleary-eyed. "Sailor Moon?" he said softly.

Serena felt her chest clench. "N-no," she stuttered, heart racing, "it's me, Serena. Remember, we were at that store today?"

"Oh," he said. He then turned away and seemingly went back to sleep. Serena grunted, and grabbed the pillow from her side of the bed. She slapped him on the face a few times. "Darien! I need to talk to you! We're friends now, remember? Friends talk when their other friend needs to talk, even if they don't want to!"

Darien rolled again onto his back, and Serena feared that he had somehow slept through her assault. Then he spoke, eyes still closed, "Is breaking in what friends do, too?"

Serena wanted to laugh and choke him at the same time. "For your information, your drunk ass must've left your door unlocked! You're lucky I'm not a murderer."

"Maybe I was just waiting for a pretty girl to come into my bedroom," Darien said simply. Serena blushed before he continued, "And I think she's almost here, so you should leave, Meatball."

She hit him with a pillow a few more rounds, and he said, "Trying to smother me while claiming you're no murderer, very wise."

His eyes were shut, but his mouth seemed wide awake. Serena sighed, leaned against his headboard, and crossed her feet at her ankles. "I really did want to talk to you, you know."

He opened his eyes then, and gave her a rather eerily blank look. "About a nightmare."

"Yes," Serena said softly. "I thought you would care enough to listen."

"I do."

"I shouldn't have woke you up."

"Probably not, but you did." Darien put his head in his palm and perched on his elbow. "What happened? You seem pretty freaked out."

"This was just like the other dreams, but totally different. I fear it may've been telling me something else. Something horrible."

Darien's eyes flickered with a strange emotion. "What?"

"I saw Luna dead, this time. Not me. Her."

Darien furrowed his brow. "And Luna is…?"

"My cat!" Serena cried.

"Oh," Darien said. He promptly fell back down onto the mattress.

"Darien! This is important! My other dreams meant something; what if this does, too?"

He sighed then, like she was annoying him. "What could this possibly mean other than your subconscious is terrified that something bad has happened to your cat?"

"You don't know what that dream felt like, Darien," Serena said softly. "I apologized for killing her, but it felt like I was apologizing for killing a lot of people… It really… It shook me up, I don't know." Serena blushed again. "I shouldn't have come here. I don't know why I did."

She started to leave, but felt the warm pressure of Darien's hand on her wrist.

"You came here because even though I'm a tremendous asshole, I understand what you're going through, and I won't judge. Now stay here and vent. It will make you feel better."

Serena didn't understand how Darien could reassure her and yet be such a jerk at the same time. Such was his power, she guessed. His eyes were closed again. She smiled despite herself.

"Are we BFFs now, Darien?"

"I've never heard of that acronym, and I don't think I need to again."

"It means Best Friends Forever."

"Ugh."

Serena's smile widened. "We could get matching necklaces at the mall."

"I don't do jewelry and I don't do malls."

"It would be a lot of fun, I think," Serena said.

"So that's why you broke into my apartment. Trying to milk the wonderful gift of my friendship for all its worth."

"Something like that." Serena's smile faltered. "I think something bad's going to happen. I think my dreams are bad."

Darien faced her. "Whatever your dreams may mean, Serena, I will help you through it. So will your other friends. Maybe it's time to tell them."

She had told herself that she wouldn't tell the scouts about her dreams because they weren't relevant to anything else going on. But now they were. Maybe Darien was right.

"I don't really want to. They think I'm messed up as it is."

"If they think you're messed up, maybe you should listen. You're lucky that you have them. I've been envious of your little clique at times."

That seemed like a rather emotional confession from Darien. "You really have?"

"Yeah." He closed his eyes again. "They always look like they'll fight to defend you. But they don't seem to mind watching me rile you up; how strange."

"That's 'cause you're harmless and stupid," Serena said blithely. She slithered into a lying position, interlacing her fingers, staring at the ceiling.

"What if my dreams are the end of the world? They aren't good. What if I really did piss off some God? What if this is the start of something terrible?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. But _I_ will cause it."

"In my personal experience, Serena, it's not good to obsess over intangible things. It'll make you end up a, albeit handsome, loner weirdo."

Serena chuckled at the "handsome" part, and then she felt her eyes shift to Darien's face. His eyes were still closed. There was a faint light from his windows falling on his face. He did have a frustratingly perfect face. His hair was disheveled, he was wearing a ratty t-shirt with a rip at the neck, and his sweatpants looked like they had seen better days, too. But he was still undeniably handsome. Serena felt like her face was engulfed in flames.

Was he really that good at self-assessment? But that meant he also thought, well, really _knew_ on some level, since it was true, that he was a loner weirdo. That made her heart tug for him in ways it had insisted on doing since that drunken night on the balcony.

 _Loner weirdo._

Without even thinking about it, Serena slowly wrapped her arm around his chest and leaned her head atop his shoulder. She felt Darien shift, but he didn't push her away.

She felt an impeccable sadness then, because in that moment she knew what he had meant by "intangible." Tuxedo Mask wasn't just a figure from her dreams, but he may as well be. Some piece of her heart loved him, but she could never love him fully. She could never hold him like this, or talk to him unguardedly like this, and it suddenly starting to dawn on Serena that the reason she could never trust Tuxedo Mask wasn't because of fears that he could be on the wrong side – it was because, no matter the magic bond between them, she would only ever know him as Sailor Moon. And she wasn't really Sailor Moon – she was _Serena_. He wasn't a dream, no, but he may as well be.

"Why are you crying all over my shirt, Meatball?" Darien said, sounding both confused and concerned.

"I understand your love for the princess. How much it hurts. Because it's not real." Serena tried to wipe her eyes and mask her running nose by burying her face into Darien's sleeve.

He inhaled sharply, and was silent for what felt like forever.

"I _do_ love her."

He sounded defensive. Serena decided to tread carefully. "I know. But she can't hold you like this, or pour your alcohol down the drain. She can't be there for you when you need her." Serena pulled herself away from him. "Darien," she said softly, "you can only love her when you sleep, and you said it leaves you depressed. That's why you're obsessed."

"So what?" Darien opened his eyes and seemed angry. "Because I can pinch you on the arm, that means I should love you?" He demonstrated with a rather hard pinch on her thigh that caused Serena to yelp. It was her turn to glare.

"I understand you, you stupid jerk! I love someone like that, too. I will never get to lay with him like this." Serena's head fell back to Darien's shoulder, defeated. "It _hurts,_ all the time."

Darien was quiet for a long time, and Serena had almost figured he had gone back to sleep. She was feeling a mixture of depression, relief, and a throbbing tension in her leg that was both parts pain and pleasure. The bruising spot reminded her of Tuxedo Mask. Boy, had he messed her up good.

"I'm sorry. I would never wish that on anyone else," he said at long last. "If you need to talk about him, I will listen."

"Always offering to listen." Serena chuckled. "Aren't you afraid I'll chew your ear off?"

"You were pretty annoying when we weren't friends. It can only go up from here, Meatball Head."

She wasn't looking at him, but she could feel his smirk.

"How do you do that, you demon bastard? Say something nice, masked in an insult? It's something uniquely _you_." She was smiling, too.

"What did I say that was mean?"

"Annoying?"

"Merely stating my opinion at the time. Not meant to insult. What else?"

"Meatball Head. For your information, I _like_ my meatballs."

"I like them, too," Darien said easily. "I think I would be rather upset if you changed them. They're something rather… _uniquely you."_

Serena could tell he was telling the truth. How had she never realized that there was affection in that nickname? Well, Darien wasn't very good at showing that sort of thing. Too bad she would just have to teach him, kind of like those trainers at the zoo who had to teach the chimps sign language. She ignored the flutter in her chest when he said that he liked her hair and instead acted aloof, "Maybe I'll change them, maybe I won't."

"Don't change them," Darien said. "Also, let's get some fucking sleep."

"That sounds good," Serena said, allowing the night to swallow her up, the image of Luna dead still burned into her brain.

* * *

Amy seemed to be treating Raye's room like a crime scene. Lita had fallen asleep somewhere around Volume 4, and after all was said and done, Amy began doing a thorough canvassing. She had borrowed some of Raye's powder and clear tape to try and gather fingerprints from the book case. She was now over by the window, inspecting it with a blue light that seemed to radiate from her computer. Sometimes Raye had to remind herself that beneath Amy's timid exterior lay an ultimately awe-inspiring mind.

"Okay, so let's say that your assumption is correct," Raye said, as she stood over the fire where the tea kettle whistled. "Let's say that this is some kind of clue. What on earth could it be telling us?"

Amy looked hesitant.

"Look, I know you like to think through everything before speculating, but I think we're running out of time. Serena doesn't seem to be getting any better, and Luna is still missing." Raye walked towards her friend.

Amy bit her lip, then nodded. "I'm beginning to suspect – just suspect, mind you…"

"You can save the disclaimers, Ames, I won't hold it against you if you're wrong."

"Well, this whole time we've been suspecting that The Entity was some kind of dark force."

"Isn't it?"

"I'm not sure. Serena's behavior has been concerning, but so far she's proven no threat to herself."

"She allowed Tux Boy to beat her up."

"Or she allowed herself to practice the control of her powers with someone who has a vested interest in her safety."

"Okay, well, what's your explanation for Luna then?"

"… I don't have one. We have no leads to Luna. Although this –" Amy held up the computer screen and symbol again, "for some reason this just makes me think of Luna. She would know well enough what kind of clues to leave."

"You think she stole my manga, too?"

"No, if not only for the reason that it required opposable thumbs, I would say that that kind of clue is too brash, and not Luna's style at all."

"So speaking of thumbs, did you catch any prints?"

"Oh, I got a lot of fingerprints," Amy said, gesturing to where she had placed the pieces of tape along the edge of Raye's desk. "Unfortunately, I don't have a database with our prints or any comparable ones, so it may have been an exercise in futility, but I just wanted to try."

Raye sighed and went to get the tea. "Everything's an exercise in futility, it seems."

"Not necessarily," Amy said. "I think there are two things that could lead us to solving this."

"And those are?" Raye asked as she handed her friend a cup.

"Your weird experiences, for one. With your psychic abilities, it no doubt means that you tripped on something. We just need to figure out what."

"I already told you everything about that day that I could."

"But you still see it happen when you meditate."

"Yes, along with what is obviously Serena's dead body and Luna saying there's nothing she can do. It still doesn't give me any clue as to what happened or what I am supposed to do. Time was wrong, that's all I know."

Amy seemed to mull on this. "Time has seemed wrong for a while now, hasn't it?"

"I guess so," Raye said, sitting next to the sleeping Lita, whose mouth was open and drooling.

"Let me ask you, Raye, these visions … Do you think they're literal?"

"No," Raye replied simply. When Amy continued to stare at her, she sighed. "It's hard to explain to someone who isn't psychic."

"Try me."

"Well … I am seeing impressions, not literal events. I am seeing things from my subconscious. I am following… threads."

"Threads."

"Yes, I follow one path, I follow another. I can't touch something that isn't mine to touch. See, I told you, it's really hard to explain."

"Tell me more about the white marble warzone you keep seeing."

"That is a complete mystery to me. But it's bad news, I know that much. I don't _think_ it's literal."

"But what if it was? It sounds like some kind of castle, and we're looking for a princess, are we not?"

Raye seemed to contemplate this. "I guess you're right. I hadn't thought of it that way."

"I've never felt the need to discuss this with you guys because it seemed irrelevant and easily explained by magic, but how would you react if I told you that you, Raye, are a completely different person from Sailor Mars?"

Raye's mouth dropped open. "What the hell? How did you come up with that?"

"Physically you're the same," Amy said. She gestured to the pieces of tape. "Your fingerprints would be identical. But your brain is completely different, at least, according to the Mercury Computer."

"I repeat myself, what the hell?! Why didn't you tell us this before, Amy? What does this mean?"

"I have no idea. But let's assume there are various people out there like you – not you, but similar enough that even you wouldn't know the difference. Do they share your, as you put it, 'threads?'"

Raye looked down at the floor and frowned. "I… I would guess so. I feel psychically connected to Sailor Mars. I just assumed she was, well, me. My mind didn't seem to know the difference."

"If I didn't see the science myself I wouldn't have known the difference," Amy confided. "It's just something I can't stop thinking about. Now that I have the computer back, I want a chance to talk to Serena, but not before we figure out what's going on with all these clues."

"You want to… you want to look at Meatball Brain's brain! You want to study her… You think… Holy shit, this is some _invasion of the body snatchers_ shit."

"I am not saying she's been 'replaced.' I'm just saying…" Amy sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm not entirely sure what I'm saying. Anyway, I just want you to know that your psychic ability is one important piece of this mystery."

"What's the other thing?"

"Serena's hiding something. I believe that she confided in Darien."

"Where the hell did that friendship come from, anyway?"

"I don't know. Something Serena won't tell us. She won't tell us things she's embarrassed or confused about."

"Wonderful traits to have in a leader, no doubt," Raye said, rolling her eyes.

"Let's just solve this mystery first, and then you can campaign to lead the scouts, how about that? The problem is, we need to know what's going on with Serena. Darien will be totally naïve as to its merits as something relevant to the Sailor Scouts, so her secret must be something seemingly innocuous."

"Why don't you just, I don't know, ask him?" Raye said.

"I wish it were that simple. He would suss me out very quickly. He would tell me he wants to protect Serena's privacy, and that I should just ask her myself."

"It's not bad advice."

"Yes, but if this were something Serena were going to willingly give out, she would've cracked by now. I've been trying to subtly break her for days now."

"Mental torture not above you, eh, Ames?"

Amy looked pained but then continued. "I think Darien may be more susceptible to you. Not only have you two been close in the past, but you should be able to pry the information out of him slowly. I'm no good at that kind of stuff."

"Darien and I haven't been close," Raye said quickly, her face flushing crimson. The other girls all knew about her attraction to the older boy, but none of them were quite sure of Darien's side of the matter.

"It doesn't matter. Just do it," Amy said with a surprising amount of force. Raye blinked at her a few times.

"Damn. Maybe you should be leader of the Sailor Scouts."

Amy smirked. "You wouldn't like to work under me, I assure you. Now, let's think. Anything you didn't tell me about that day?"

Raye groaned and fell back onto Lita's legs. Lita groaned herself, and rolled away. Raye sat up. "What? You mean anything I didn't tell you in the fifty other times we talked?"

"You've been seeing the scene again and again. Maybe your brain's trying to tell you something you missed."

"I don't know," Raye searched through her brain. "I remembered the girl's name today. But what does that matter? There are always girls at the temple."

Amy's eyes lit up. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I didn't see the relevance."

"I'm telling you it's relevant. What's her name?"

"She introduced herself as Mina."

Amy looked like she might faint.

"What? What is it?" Raye asked. "Do you know her?"

"Yes," Amy choked out. "She was at the library today when the network started to work."

"What?! No shit!"

"Yes, pretty blonde girl, blue eyes, red bow…"

"Yes! She had a red bow!" Raye exclaimed.

Amy ran to her bag. She pulled out a sheet of paper.

"What's that?"

"One of her papers. It ended up with my stuff by mistake."

Raye watched as Amy meticulously lifted the prints off of the sheet of paper and then set it against the others. There was a print amongst the dozens that matched exactly. Raye exhaled.

"What does this mean?"

"It means she stole your manga, which means she knows something. Come on, we have to find her right now." Amy threw a jacket at Raye.

"Where are we going?"

"We're going to places popular with university students at night."

"We're going to bars?!" Raye asked. She looked at their sleeping friend. "Should we wake her up?"

Amy seemed to hesitate in the doorway as she put her own coat on. "No," she said finally. "I don't think she slept last night. Come on, let's go."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Andrew was concerned when Darien didn't answer his calls – well, not _too_ concerned. Darien had always been the type to avoid picking the phone up when he wasn't in the mood, but usually he would give in if Andrew was persistent enough. Andrew never said as much to Darien, but his friend was so isolated that he often feared he would die in his sleep and not be found in weeks.

That's why Andrew had an extra key, only, the door was unlocked. He began to get worried. The daylight shone through the apartment brightly. Nothing seemed stolen or disturbed.

"Dare?" he called. No response. He went to the bedroom. He froze in the doorway.

It was readily apparent that nothing scandalous had happened between them, but the sight of Darien and Serena in the same bed was enough to make him laugh aloud. Darien slept still and rigid on one side of the bed, covered up. On the other side was Serena, limbs akimbo, snoring loudly. What an odd pair they made. He would, of course, tease Darien mercilessly for this.

Not one for subtlety, Andrew went for the pot and spatula. "Wakey, wakey!" he banged. Serena jumped up almost immediately, while Darien shielded his eyes and glared.

"Is all that necessary?" he asked.

"I don't know, is it?"

"As far as I know, I have no pressing engagements, so feel free to leave now that you have proof I'm alive," Darien said gruffly, turning over.

Serena pouted. "That was low, Andrew." She fell back against the bed and turned to face opposite Darien.

Andrew was a bit let down. "Neither of you are upset that I found you in bed together?"

"Not particularly. If you want Meatball to go, take her yourself," Darien muttered.

Serena yawned. "Just give me ten more minutes, 'Drew."

Andrew scowled. "You take the fun out of everything. I don't know why I'm friends with either of you."

"Funny, I was thinking something similar," Darien said.

Andrew sat on the far edge of the bed. His friends' eyes were closed, but he knew they were both still awake. "What were you guys talking about last night?" he asked.

"We were talking about how to kill you," Darien said. "Isn't that right, Serena?"

"Mm-hmm," Serena said before yawning again. "I think we decided to smother him in his sleep."

"But then we decided that wouldn't be cruel enough, so we would just have to murder him with kitchen utensils instead."

"It's nice that you're both so grouchy this lovely …" Andrew glanced at his watch "… early afternoon, but Serena, your mom's probably worried about you. I know you have school today. And Darien, you have lab in a couple of hours."

He thought he wouldn't get a response out of either of them, but Serena eventually sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "Is it really so late?"

"Yeah. I never thought I'd see the day you and Darien would be civil enough to have a five-minute conversation, let alone fall asleep talking."

"She talked," Darien said. "I was held prisoner."

Serena shot the man a dirty look, then smiled at Andrew, her warm, mischievous smile that he knew well. "Darien and I decided last night that we would be BFFs."

Andrew laughed hard at that, even harder when he saw his friend's jaw clench. "I must admit, I'm a little jealous. I always thought Darien was my BFF."

Serena smiled so the corners of her eyes crinkled. She patted Andrew's leg. "It's okay; we can share him."

Darien let out an audible groan then and went to the restroom. Andrew heard the tell-tale sign of running water. "He's brushing his teeth. I think that means he's up for good." Andrew then remembered Serena's shiner, and his instructions to her. Darien had been alone with his bourbon the last time Andrew had spoken to him at 8. Why was Serena sneaking out of her house in the middle of the night to stay with Darien if not for protection? "Serena," he said seriously, and she looked up from adjusting her shoe to prove she heard him, "is everything all right? You haven't had any more trouble, have you?"

Serena looked confused for minute, then shook her head. "Andrew, I think you've got things a bit messed up." Serena looked around quickly, like someone might be listening in. "I just suffer from pretty horrible nightmares. I haven't told anyone besides Darien. Can you keep it between us?"

"Sure."

"Good."

Andrew wasn't sure why Serena didn't want her friends to know, and he wasn't going to ask, but the fact that she had confided in Darien just made him all the more confused. Darien emerged from the bathroom, looking, truthfully, worse for the wear.

"What are you two still doing here?" he asked.

This was the point where Serena was supposed to call Darien a jerkface, to tell him to not be so rude, and to shut his ugly face up. Instead, she just grinned. "Good morning, sunshine!" she chirped.

Darien fell face first into the mattress rather dramatically, which was an even odder sight for Andrew, since Darien usually didn't bother much with dramatics.

"I think I'll take Serena with me to the arcade for the rest of the day," Andrew said. "I don't want her getting in trouble on part of your negligence."

Serena cheered. "Hooray! Arcade day!" She stood and straightened her uniform bow. "You're the best, Andrew. And because you're the best, I'm reminding you that in two days, it's my birthday, and I'm sure you've already got me a wonderful gift."

"Of course I have, Serena." Andrew stood and took Serena's hand, giving her a twirl and watching her hair float in the air and her blue skirt spin. They continued some semblance of a ballroom dance, until he dipped Serena, who was, at that point, giggling. When Andrew saw Darien's eyes, they had some sort of strange look in them as he watched.

They finished, Darien gave half-hearted applause and Serena bowed. "Thank you, thank you."

"I didn't know you could dance without falling over, Meatball," Darien said.

"Neither did I, to tell you the truth," Serena said with a smile. "But I'm feeling light-headed now. I think I'll get some water and leave you boys to talk. _About what to get me for my birthday,_ " she added in stage whisper as she left the room.

Andrew sighed. "She knew I would forget. What does she like? Pink? I'll get her something pink and cute. You're going to the party then?"

"I think I have to at this point. She'll murder me if I don't. I can't get away from her. She literally crawls into my bed at night," Darien said dryly.

"Don't act like you don't like it," Andrew said. Darien scoffed. "I didn't even mean getting into bed; I meant the friendship part. But now that you mention it …"

"Yes, it's best that you get it out of your system now."

"I wasn't going to suggest you slept with Serena."

"Because obviously I didn't."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why not?"

"Why not _what_?" Darien frowned. "What are you getting at, Andrew?"

"I meant, why is the 'obviously' thrown in there?"

Darien shifted uncomfortably. "If you're implying I should take advantage of Serena –"

"No. Look. Serena's out of the picture. Boom. Poof. Gone. But why is the first person I've ever seen in your bed the entire time I've known you someone I know you didn't sleep with? Look, I can see it in your face that having Serena as a friend has made you happy; she's a great person to be friends with. But, I just, I don't know… Darien, you can't keep walls up forever. Eventually, you'll crack."

"So you're saying… I should've slept with Serena."

Andrew knew Darien was being difficult on purpose now. "I'm saying Serena has cracked you."

"Is this about that girl at the bar?"

"No, look, Darien, this is about you. I want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted."

"But instead all I do is brood and drink coffee?"

"Who said that?"

"Serena. Pre-Friend."

"Oh, how fun, you have eras now. But she wasn't wrong. Hell, maybe you should've slept with her, she seems to have you pegged."

"She's young and naïve."

"She's young, but I don't think she's so naïve. I think she knew I wanted to talk to you about more than just presents. And she's very pretty."

"She's _young_ ," Darien repeated, steel voice effectively closing the matter. "And you're engaged."

"I wasn't talking about for me," Andrew said, knowing he should drop it, but suddenly wanting to push. He didn't really know why. "But if I hadn't been dating Rita this whole time I think I would've asked her out."

Darien raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Sure. She's great. Fun, kind, knows not to put up with your bullshit. Pretty. All wins for her. No wonder you pulled her pigtails like a boy on the schoolyard."

"I never pulled her pigtails, she has enough trouble with them on her own. Now, was there a point to this?"

"No. No point. I was just wondering where you stood with everything. What were we talking about before?"

"Presents," Darien said with a smirk.

Andrew punched himself in the forehead. "Damn it, that's right. Pink and cute. Will you go shopping with me later?"

"No."

"If you don't get her a gift, she'll kill you."

"I already got her one, Andrew. You're on your own."

"You already…?" And then Andrew felt gears in his head click. He wanted to tease Darien about Serena because she was obviously not the kind of person Darien would feel things toward – sexual or otherwise. But the obvious wasn't part of the equation anymore, was it?

"You poor, sad bastard," Andrew said with a shake of his head.

"What the hell's that mean? I just picked it up yesterday. It was no trouble."

Darien only got defensive when he felt insecure. If he were at the arcade, he'd be putting on his shades to hide his eyes about now.

"I'm sure it was no trouble, no trouble at all. I'm sure you picked up the first thing you saw. You didn't think about what kind of present would make Serena happy or anything."

Darien rolled his eyes. "Just get the hell out of my house now, Andrew; I'm bored."

"Fine." Andrew walked toward the door. "But just promise me one thing – when you get married, may I be best man?"

Darien threw a pillow at his head. Andrew couldn't believe it. Darien had cracked. He was humpty dumpty, egg goop everywhere. "Just go! And take Meatball with you."

"Maybe the next time she stays over, you should lock the door. Just a word of advice."

"Get the _hell out_!"

Serena was surprised when she saw Andrew emerge from the bedroom grinning.

"It sounded like he wanted to kill you," she said.

"Yeah," Andrew smiled as he led Serena to the front door, "it sounds like he actually cares about something for once, eh?"

* * *

Amy had soon found that Raye's approach to research, much like Lita's in the library, was far different from her own. Amy wanted to sit quietly – observe, measure the patterns, the comings and goings, the familiarities with which the bar regulars knew each other. From those impressions, she could gauge who to approach, who knew what, who might be willing to spill information after a few too many.

Raye, on the other hand, went for the kill. She was perched in a booth with several men, pouting her lips. "And none of you have seen the girl with the red bow before?"

There were approximately fifteen bars within a ten mile radius of the university, but Amy's best bet was on Sunshine, a bar known for its gritty nature. It was one of the only few bars left that allowed people to smoke, and despite being the size of an average basement, it had room for a dancefloor, pool tables, and several chairs. It also didn't check IDs, which made it easier for Amy and Raye to get in, but all that much more harder for her to get any sort of information on Mina if anyone happened to remember her.

The space between the bar and the barstools was virtually non-existent. The bartender, a tall, older man with a ponytail, kept looking at her every few minutes, but Amy was far too busy jotting down notes in her notebook. Raye had already had a couple of shots – Amy planned to keep her wits about her, sticking solely to seltzer.

"You working on homework or something?" the bartender asked.

"Something like that," Amy said dully. "Do you regularly manage this bar, if I may ask?"

"Ah, what are you asking me something like that for? You think I'm gonna bust you for being underage?"

Amy blushed at that, but the bartender just chuckled. "You've never been in here before," he said.

"No, I haven't."

"I work every weekend and every Tuesday and Wednesday. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you could remember any of your patrons?"

"Any of them? Or someone in particular?"

"The latter, if it makes a difference."

"It makes a difference in that bartending is much like any other customer service job. I remember people who give me a reason to remember them. I'll remember you, for example, because you sat quietly at the bar taking notes and not drinking. Unfortunately, ninety percent of these kids are a blur."

"Did a girl with a red bow ever give you reason to remember to her?"

The man's eyes widened. "Well, how about that…" he murmured.

"You remember her?" Amy asked, trying not to sound too excited.

"Last Saturday. She sat where you sat. Taking notes just like you. She kept looking at the door like she was waiting for someone to come in. She said she was expecting a guy."

Amy jotted all of this down. "Did the guy ever show up?"

"Two of them," the man said. "Sorry, I don't remember what they look like."

"That's fine," Amy said, continuing to notate. "What happened?"

"She got up from the bar and went to the guys. One of the guys played pool with a bunch of other girls while she talked to the other guy in a back booth for a while. They had quite a bit to drink. I remember thinking it was uncouth of him to leave her like that."

"The guy left?"

"Yeah, he left and then she sat there for a while and finished her drinks and then she left, too."

"What about the other guy?"

"I don't know what happened to him – sorry, that was around 11 and it started to be the rush in here."

"So she was here earlier than that."

"Yeah, probably 9 or so. Guys came at 9:30."

"Okay. Did you happen to catch her name?"

"I talked to her a bit about nothing special, and her name didn't come up. I'm sorry. And she only paid with cash – wait!" the bartender said suddenly. "I remember now, the guy she was with had a tab on a black card. I haven't seen many of those around here."

Amy wanted to ask him more, but then he had to serve a group of rowdy boys a round of jello shots; fortunately, he just had to grab them out of the cooler, so Amy knew she could talk to him soon. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh, Ammmmy," Raye said. "You have to take a shot with us."

Amy grimaced. "I'd rather not."

"Why not? I'm investigating!" Raye said indignantly, hands on hips, swaying slightly. "These guys saw her last weekend. They all thought she was hot."

Amy chuckled. Whilst drunk, Raye's hostility seemed so pleasant and happy. "I know, Raye. The bartender remembered seeing her, too."

"So see!" Raye said, taking a green shot from one of the boys, "we are all doing our jobs!"

"I think you're working at it a bit harder than me."

"Probs!" Raye said before swallowing the jello in one gulp. Amy felt nauseous. She did not like jello in its regular state, and adding alcohol seemed even more disgusting.

When Raye disappeared with the boys, Amy was surprised when the bartender placed a small cup in front of her.

"I really don't want to drink," she said. "But I appreciate the gesture."

"It's all right. Consider it a bribe to not let anyone know that I let you see this." He handed her a receipt with all but the name scribbled out – but, then again, that was all she needed to see. She grabbed the glass and downed it; the strong taste of peppermint engulfing her throat and making her cough a few times.

"Thank you," she managed the choke out. The bartender winked and took the receipt and the glass back. The mystery, she couldn't help but think, was only starting to deepen.

That was when her communicator buzzed. She saw Lita's face. "Where the hell are you?" she asked. "Raye's called me a couple of times but I couldn't understand what she was saying."

"I'm sorry, Lita," Amy said quickly, her trepidation at using the communicator in public waning as the warmth of alcohol spread to her toes. "Raye and I discovered that her manga was stolen by a girl named Mina, whom I have reason to suspect is a university student. We were doing some investigating."

Lita frowned. "Mina. Why does that name sound familiar to me?"

Amy prepared to make notes. "Yes, blonde hair in a bow. Have you had a run-in with her?"

Recognition slowly dawned on Lita's face. "Yeah. A couple of weeks ago. At the fish market."

"Hmmm… Okay, then, that cements it. We know she's contacted all of us now. I also found out something else curious about her. Come down to Sunshine and help me take Raye back to your house. We'll proceed from there."

Lita nodded and Amy ended the transmission. The bartender said it was last call, and Amy considered asking for another one of those peppermint drinks, but decided against it. She had to figure this out. Why had Mina contacted all of them?

Why had Mina sat in a back booth talking to _Darien Shields_?

* * *

As Serena walked home from the arcade, her mood was surprisingly bright. The dreams had still happened while she slept at Darien's, but they had felt like mere flickers – wisps of smoke she tried to grab and then were gone. It wasn't a particularly restful night's sleep, but it was far better than she had been experiencing.

She tried not to think of Luna, she tried not to think of Tuxedo Mask, she tried not to think of The Entity or the way it seemed to loom over her life. Instead, she thought of taking a day off school, playing Sailor V until her fingers hurt, laughing with Andrew over hot fudge sundaes. She tried to think of Darien, and how she hoped she could help him in any way that she could.

She did not know that, at this moment in time, Raye was waking up from a hangover while Lita was waking up from a nightmare involving Tuxedo Mask. She did not know that Amy had barely slept at all, and had not let the other girls know that Mina had contacted Darien, suspecting that it might have something to do with Serena's secret, deciding to speak with their leader directly. Serena didn't know any of these things.

And when she came home and her mom said she was making lambchops for dinner, Serena decided that it might be a pretty good day.

But then she saw the parchment on her bed – the same parchment Amy had bought for her not too long ago. It was a note, folded delicately amongst her pillows.

 _Dear Serena,_ it said.

 _I hope to meet you soon. I waited at the arcade, but you never showed up. Things are really confusing right now, but I don't want you to be upset. I'm sorry if I made you worry about Luna. I am taking care of her and feeding her fish. She is helping me a lot. IN TIME we will make sense of this. Stay positive. Everything is all right._

 _Sincerely,_

 _-M_

Serena screamed.

* * *

Serena had been barricaded in her room for about an hour when the girls finally came through the window. 5 pm.

"It's about time you showed up," Serena said darkly. Except, she wasn't Serena anymore, Raye noticed. She was Sailor Moon.

"You had your mom worried sick, you know!" Raye said. "You're acting like a child."

Serena did not look at them. She clenched her fist and stared violently ahead, as if trying to melt a hole through her wall.

"That bitch stole my cat," she said.

Amy had taken the note and was examining it. "This must be Mina's doing," she said.

"Serena, calm down," Lita said. "We don't know what Mina's plan is, but she made a point to let you know Luna was okay."

Serena turned on them then, staring intensely. "Who the fuck is Mina?" she asked. "Why do you all know about this?"

"We don't know anything, Serena," Amy said quickly. "Mina has been approaching all of us and she stole Raye's _Sailor V_ manga. That's all we know!"

Serena looked even angrier at that, as if stealing manga was an offense worthy of the death penalty. "She's The Entity," she said.

"We don't know that," Amy said. "Here, look at this. We think it's a clue."

Amy showed Serena the screen of her computer.

 _/-_\_

\/

"We don't know what it is," she went on, "but we think it's important."

Serena stared at it for a long while. Raye was about to ask Amy what the point was, since none of them knew what it was, and her head still ached quite a bit truthfully, but then Serena's face softened. "Maybe it's a crystal. The princess wants one."

Lita looked surprised. "How do you know that?"

"I don't know," Serena said gruffly. "I just do."

"It says here in the letter that she tried to meet you in the arcade," Amy said. "Did you ever meet Mina? We all did. She had long blonde hair and a red bow."

Serena closed her eyes and clenched her fists even harder, like Amy had asked her an especially stupid question, but then her eyes popped open. "She was at the post office. She ruined my cards to all of you with her stupid coffee."

"Okay, that's good!" Amy said, pulling out her notebook and writing something down. "Mina seems to have made it a special point to introduce herself to all of us, and, did she give you her name, too, Serena?" She took Serena's long silence as confirmation. "Great! So we know she wants us to know who she is. Raye, did you get any particularly special vibes off of her when you met?"

"No, she seemed normal. But then again, I had just come from seeing you guys and –" Raye wasn't about to say she was upset about Serena and Darien spending time together, so instead she said, "and, uh, I may not have been on my guard. She may have been what tripped up time."

"She capitalizes IN TIME in her letter," Lita offered.

"Yes, that's interesting," Amy said. "I think my earlier assertion that she was giving us clues may prove correct. And stop being so angry, Serena, Lita's right – Mina would have absolutely no reason to harm Luna."

Serena strode the length of the room very quickly and grabbed Amy by the neck.

"Serena!" Raye exclaimed. Amy's eyes went wide.

"Don't you get it?" Serena cried. "Whatever she's doing to Luna is against her will; I'm sure of it. What the hell is her definition of all right? All this time you guys are so concerned with your mysteries and with your clues that you never get the big picture – any of you. You're so concerned with battles, you don't think about The War. The world could be destroyed." Serena let go of Amy. "All right is rather relative, isn't it?" she said plaintively.

There was a knock on the door. "Serena?" her mother's voice called. "Girls? Did you manage to get in?"

Amy was rubbing her neck, but still managed to utter. "Yes, Mrs. Tsukino, thank you. We're trying to calm Serena down."

Serena glared at her at that.

"Okay. When you want to come downstairs, Serena, I will have ice cream waiting!" her mother said, the sound of her footsteps leaving all that was left in the quiet room.

Raye couldn't keep it in any longer. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's okay, Raye," Amy said.

"No, it is not okay! She's acting like a maniac."

"I don't think Mina understands just how powerful her presence is. She wouldn't have left the letter otherwise. Nor would she have tried to contact you, as a matter of fact." Amy then turned to Serena. "How did you know the princess wanted a crystal?"

Serena narrowed her eyes. Raye had never seen the blonde look so menacing. "I don't think I need to tell you that."

"What have you and Darien been discussing?" Amy asked again, harsher this time. "If you don't tell us, we'll never figure this out."

Serena looked thoughtful, and then gave a wicked smile. "I have an idea. A game. Raye, listen up, you'll probably like this. The first person who finds Mina gets to be leader of the Sailor Scouts! You can even invite Tuxedo Mask to play!"

"Serena," Lita started, "don't you think we'll have more chance finding her if we look together?"

"What, Lita, you don't want to call up your old friend Tuxedo Mask and ask him to babysit me again? I know you guys like to keep an eye on me." Serena walked to the window. It was almost dark now. She pulled her communicator out from underneath her uniform and stomped on it with relish. Amy cringed.

"Serena, I think Tuxedo Mask will find you on his own."

"Well how will we know if we don't try, hmmm? I'm going to look for Mina my way. Seems I'm the only one who cares about Luna. I'll see you guys later!"

"No!" the other girls said at the same time, but Serena was already gone. As Sailor Moon, she was far faster than they were, and even as the other girls changed, Raye couldn't help but feel a bit worried. "You sure you know what you're doing?" she asked Sailor Mercury.

"I have no idea," Amy said, scanning where Serena had just been with her visor. "But if we don't find Mina before she does, she's as good as dead." Amy looked mournful for Mina before adding, "If Serena kills her, we'll never figure out what the hell's going on."

* * *

That night, Darien did not sleep. He could not sleep, and not just because he couldn't face another one of the princess's demands. As a matter of fact, he had been thinking a lot about what Serena had said just the night before, about how much it hurt to love someone disconnected from the real world. The fact that Serena understood that showed a maturity beyond her years, and it had caused him to look at her in a new light. Of course, as soon as he started to see her as a woman, Andrew had gone in for the kill.

But the real reason Darien could not sleep was because Sailor Moon was gone. He could no longer feel her. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. In a sick way, he wished she was dead, that she no longer existed on this earth. At least then he could properly mourn her.

Ironically, this evening was supposed to be when he met with Sailor Jupiter.

He looked at his phone. For some strange reason, he contemplated looking up Serena's phone number. Talking, wasn't that what friends were for? Still, he knew her parents would answer, and he wasn't in the mood to play the gentleman caller.

He was sitting in the dark and drinking again, feeling emptier and lonelier than he had even known possible. Sailor Moon was not dead, he knew. He did not know how he knew this, but he knew that if she died, he would soon follow. No, not dead.

She had merely cut him off.

* * *

None of the girls found Sailor Moon that night. They had re-grouped at Raye's the following morning, telling Serena's mother that they had decided to stay at Lita's. Raye was particularly interested in Amy's bullet point about _**Inter-dimensional fluctuations**_.

"Whatever wavelength Mina is operating on is different than our own," Amy said. "This leads me to believe that she has some sort of magical energy. The energy makes Serena go haywire, but you may be able to harness it. Or maybe even," she added, almost as an afterthought, "control it."

Raye and Lita couldn't hide their surprise at that.

"What do you mean, Ames?" Lita asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't have Raye's psychic prowess. But let's do a hypothetical. Raye, if a psychic were to try to take over my body, could you stop them?"

Raye pondered it. "I don't know. I've never tried stuff like that."

"That's why it's a hypothetical."

"You would have to have a very weak mind in order for someone to do something like that. Most people probably couldn't be very easily controlled."

"Okay. So let's say someone instead tried to make me draw something fantastic – I am a rather wretched artist – would you be able to stop them then?"

"You mean stop them from using your weak spot? That would mean that _they_ would need a weak mind."

Amy shook her head. "Forgive me, I misspoke. I didn't mean to stop them from using my weak spot entirely – I meant, could you swoop in and make me draw something else?"

"Ohhhh," Raye said. "You're saying to exploit what she's exploiting. Cut her off at the source."

"It was a suggestion."

"I will meditate, try to figure out where her magic is coming from. I came across it once, maybe I can again."

"Good," Amy said with a nod. She pulled the plastic bag containing Mina's letter from her satchel and began to re-read it. "It sounds like we all have work to do."

It did not escape Lita's notice that Amy did not give her a task. That was all right, though, she mused as she sipped her coffee. She would not tell Amy what she was starting to expect:

That Mina wasn't bad at all.

In fact, Mina had to be the princess.

* * *

That night, Sailor Jupiter sat underneath the tree in the park. She did not know how she knew he would arrive, but she did not have to wait long. Of course, she wasn't really expecting … _this_.

"Where is Sailor Moon?" he demanded almost immediately. He was standing underneath a lamppost. He was not hiding from the light like he usually did. Lita felt her chest clench. _Darien!_

And of course, she could see it now – the height, the build, the face. Even his sunglasses seemed to be aiding in her recognition; they hid his eyes the exact way his mask did. It was him, all along, and she had never even known! Had he known about her? Had that been what he and Serena had been talking about this whole time? Had they been playing them for fools? Lita's mind was running a million miles an hour, and she couldn't really stop from wrapping her arms around herself as if that would keep her identity hidden from the older boy.

"We don't know," she managed to say despite herself. "She took off yesterday."

"And you expect me to believe, Sailor Jupiter, that Sailor Moon would abandon her own team?"

He was staring at her, clearly furious. No, he wasn't looking at her like he knew her. But then again, Lita only really _knew_ two things aboutDarien – he hung out at the arcade because he was friends with the deliciously hot Andrew, and he seemed to love tormenting Serena. In fact, the only time Lita had seen the boy smile was when the blonde was crying. Amy seemed to find their fights amusing; Lita thought he was a bit of an ass, but this new revelation was something else…! The girl he seemed to hate, he also … what, was _tied_ to? Is that how Serena had explained it? Is that why they had started getting along …? God, her head was hurting.

"Forgive me, Tuxedo Mask," Lita said, swallowing. "I see that you're out of uniform. It's, uh, pretty brazen for you to speak to me like this."

Darien looked at the ground and pursed his lips. He seemed to be thinking. "I decided it was imperative to speak to you. For reasons that are my own, I could only show myself to you like this. But you seem to have no problem recognizing me, so I don't understand the problem."

God, now she thought about it, Darien and Tuxedo Mask were both assholes in the _exact same way._ "No, I don't have trouble recognizing you because I don't have the intelligence of a four-year-old." Darien looked like he wanted to comment, but Lita cut him off. "Try to fight me, Tuxedo Mask, and I won't let you get nearly as many hits in as Sailor Moon!" she growled. "You showed yourself to me, I guess that was enough for me to see you. But, still. What if I knew you, or something?"

As soon as she said it, Lita knew she had drastically fucked up. Darien's head lifted up sharply. He smiled that knowing smile. " _Do_ you know me?" he asked.

Lita bit her lip. "I never said that I did, just like I never said that I didn't. It's best to keep my identity as vague as possible. Some of us care about staying hidden," she said as forcefully as she could. It was no use.

"So you do know me," Darien said with a sigh. "That's unfortunate. However, it's no use at this point. I needed to speak with you. I don't really care who you are, so let's get on with this, shall we? What are you doing to find Sailor Moon?"

Lita was surprised at how quickly he gave up trying to fish for her identity, and then she felt anger at the accusation underneath his question.

"We're doing everything we can," she gritted out.

He smiled that annoying ass smile again. "But still you're here, talking to me. What do you expect _me_ to do, Sailor Jupiter?"

"I don't expect anything of you. I don't like you. I don't know what game you're playing. But Sailor Moon is missing, you're right." Lita took a deep breath. "And I know you can find her."

Darien closed the distance in between them quickly. "What makes you say that?"

"She told us how you feel when she's in danger… Why didn't you tell me that before?" Lita was looking up at the man before her, and it struck her then that this guy who had freaked her out so much for the past week and a half was really just a college student, and he wasn't so intimidating. Just someone else in a costume – a normal person stuck throwing roses, like Serena had once said. "You turn into Tuxedo Mask to help her. Don't you think that might have made me trust you, just a little bit?"

"I don't know _why_ I turn into Tuxedo Mask. True, it's linked to Sailor Moon, but who's to say it's for altruistic reasons? No one seems to be guiding me along the way, so I am forced to come to my own conclusions," he said, sounding pragmatic and frustratingly like Amy in that moment.

"But you're talking to _me_ , Tuxedo Mask," Lita said. "Doesn't that tell me what kind of conclusion you've come to?"

She expected him to argue, but he smiled genuinely. "Fair point. It seems we both want her safe return. But how do we manage that? I can't transform, as you can see, so I'm at a disadvantage."

Lita frowned. "You're sure you can't change?"

He stepped away from her. "Yes. I've spent the day looking for her. I don't know where she is. I can't feel her anymore."

Lita sighed. "That's what I was afraid of. I didn't know she could shut you out."

He scowled. "Neither did I."

Lita stood there awkwardly for a moment. "I thought you wanted to hurt her. You were beating her up. You were seeing her even though I didn't hold up my end of the bargain." Realization hit Lita then. "You'd have had trouble staying away from her, wouldn't you? I knew she was your favorite, but I didn't get how attached you were."

"The attachment is not something I understand entirely," Darien said wearily. "But whatever you need me to do to help find her, I will."

"Do you… Do you wanna find her because that's what you have to do, or because you want to find her, and make sure she's okay?"

"I wasn't aware there was a difference."

Lita sighed. "I wanted to use Sailor Moon's crush on you to stop her from self-destructing, even though I thought you might want to destroy the Sailor Scouts. I didn't realize how much you would want to help her yourself."

"Of course I want to help her. When she's in pain, _I'm_ in pain."

"I didn't mean it like that." Lita smiled. "You _care_ for her. I only knew Sailor Moon, so I only saw her side of it. You wanted to protect her, and help her, that's why you "rescinded your request" and all that. Because I didn't even have to give you information to get you to do what I wanted."

"I'm sure you've figured this out, Sailor Jupiter, since you're on such a streak, but I have a duty to find the princess. I made a promise long ago."

"Oh…That makes sense. It's why you said you wouldn't hurt either Sailor Moon or the princess. But I wonder, if you had to choose between the two, just who would you pick?"

He turned away. "What part of _promise_ don't you understand?"

Lita knew in that moment that Serena couldn't possibly know who Darien was because she would've fallen over dead at the sheer knowledge. Whatever ran between their two personas was freakily deep, but she just couldn't see that extending to real life. She felt so guilty then for not entirely believing Serena's insistence that Tuxedo Mask was all right. Of course she would know! It was just like Amy had said. It wasn't just that Tuxedo Mask was all about Sailor Moon; it worked in reverse, too.

 _It works in reverse, too…_

Lita felt calm then. She knew who Tuxedo Mask would've chosen. "Well, I have some good news for you – I know a couple of things about the princess. And a couple of things about you."

"And what do you know about me?" He glared at her.

"Enough. Enough to read you like a book now."

Tuxedo Mask's eyes seemed to narrow. "What do you know?"

"I know that the princess wants a crystal."

His jaw dropped at that. Lita relished in shocking the guy.

"I also know that Sailor Moon is out there looking for her right now, and we have to find her first before she kills her."

"Before who kills whom?"

Lita sighed. "Exactly. Lucky for you, I have a plan."

* * *

Amy had gone to the Crown Arcade on a pure hunch alone. It was night and no one was walking the streets. The arcade was dark inside. She had contemplated calling Andrew to let her in, but that might invite too many questions.

Instead she stood outside the doors, locked for the night, no longer opening automatically. She got down on her knees and looked at the Mercury computer. As expected, her signal was especially strong outside the arcade. Had it really been this simple the whole time?

She knew that Luna did not have to go far to contact Central Control, and she knew that she would want to set up base somewhere she could access at night without being seen. Andrew did not have security cameras at Crown – he had told them that once.

Amy ran her hands along the door. It was insulated by a black fabric, except for approximately three inch span above the sidewalk. _Luna could press her paw in here._

Amy pushed her fingers inside.

 _I waited at the arcade, but you never showed up._

The doors opened.

She stood and walked in, slowly. In the dead of night, the booth they so regularly occupied looked wrong. There was a faint blue light coming from the screen of the Sailor V videogame. She approached it. Was this it? Did Luna somehow navigate this game to communicate with their leader? Tentatively, Amy reached out and pressed the red button – the one used for shooting, she knew, from watching Serena play so much.

Nothing happened.

She felt disappointment spread through her, and then she sighed. What had she been expecting?

 _I waited at the arcade, but you never showed up._

Then she felt an arm around her neck and a hand over her mouth. "Please don't scream," a girl's voice said. Mina!

Amy shouted through the palm and then stomped on the foot behind her. With all her might she flung the girl over top of her, and she watched as the blonde hurled into the soda machine behind the counter, causing liquid to pour everywhere. Mina stood, hair dripping. She was frowning.

"Do you know how hard it is to get cola out of your hair?"

"I'm sorry," Amy said, blushing despite herself. "But I believe you owe me an explanation before you go grabbing me from behind."

"I told you not to shout!" Mina said as she crawled over the counter. "Honestly, Amy, I thought you had more sense than that."

"She doesn't know you, Mina," a male voice chirped in. "It would do you some good to remember that."

"But is that really _my_ fault?" Mina asked, sounding not unlike Serena during her whinier moments.

"Who said that?" Amy asked as she looked around.

A white cat jumped on top of their booth. "Hello, Amy," he said pleasantly. "I was hoping it would be you to come here."

He had a crescent moon on his forehead – like Luna.

"So it's true, then," Amy said seriously. "Mina is the princess."

There was a long silence and then both Mina and the cat started to laugh. The cat fell onto his back. "Wouldn't that be funny, if you threw the princess against the wall?"

"I _wish_ I were the princess. It would probably make things a whole lot simpler for you. Here," Mina said, and she was now standing next to Amy. She handed her an orange transformation stick, not unlike Amy's own.

"I'm not the princess," Mina said. "I'm Sailor Venus. And I'm from the future."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 _Saturday_

The buildings in downtown weren't very occupied anymore. Not after Beryl had taken over the crystal tower. Not after there were energy-suckers everywhere. Artemis and Amy had helped make their Sailor Suits a bit more versatile – metal options, stealth options, powerful weapons to fight off the few surviving humans who had stuck around. She saw a gang of them now.

"Jeez," Serena muttered from beside her. "It's fucking Ringo, again. How many times is he gonna try to rape me before I kill him?"

"He's just dumpster-diving, Serena," Mina said. "Besides, we're looking for creeps from the Negaverse, not ones from earth." Her eyes lifted up to the darkened sky, the black clouds sizzling with electric currents, almost threatening to rain down on them. How had it gotten this bad?

Serena was off, beating the men to a bloody pulp before Mina could've stopped her. At this point, she knew she wouldn't have been able to. Serena's Sailor powers were still going strong, even as her own were fading.

Serena had grown more desolate the worse things got. First Raye had been captured, and then her family had been killed. Ringo's head slid down the side of the green dumpster, leaving a blood trail. Serena's Sailor suit was red. Her communicator went off.

"Hello," she said emotionlessly.

"Yo," Mina heard Lita's voice, "any monsters out there?"

"None that I can see. Is Mercury back yet?"

"No. But on the positive side, she hasn't sent us any distress calls!"

"Very positive, Lits!" Mina said. Lita laughed.

"How the hell else am I supposed to be when my blonde cheerleaders go emo on me?"

Serena narrowed her eyes. "I'm turning this off now."

"Come back here, okay? _He_ wants to talk with us about something."

Serena shut off the device and placed it back into her Sailor Suit. Without a word, she began to head back to headquarters, and Mina followed.

Tuxedo Mask was there when they arrived, just like Lita said he was, and she could tell from the expression on his face that he didn't have good news. He was hunched over, in his ratty suit and stained cape. His mask was still white, though. He hadn't found the crystal. It had been months.

Serena dismissed him.

"What?!" he said, outraged.

"You heard me. Go out there and live with the rats, I don't care, but you're taking up valuable space here."

"Valuable space? You mean between the three teenage girls and the cat in these abandoned apartments?"

Lita was still sitting at the computers, Artemis in her lap, and they both looked up at that.

"For your information, once Amy and Luna return it will be _four_ teenage girls and _two_ cats, and with your big head things will get _extremely_ crowded. Besides, you've outlived your usefulness to us, so just go."

" _Outlived?!_ " Tuxedo Mask bellowed. Mina and Lita exchanged glances. They had seen the two bicker on numerous occasions, but this time seemed very different. "What are you, threatening to behead me? Should I now call you Queen Serena? Should I bow to you? Forgive me for not having my hat, or else I would've taken it off in your honor!"

Serena shook her head, and then spoke softly. "Pack your things, and please be gone by tomorrow." She then went to her room.

Mina couldn't stand the awkward silence that followed.

"I'm sure she didn't mean that –" she started, but Tuxedo Mask cut her off.

"I'm sure she did. She was fine with forming an alliance with me when I could tell you what the princess wanted, but now that I've lost that connection, I'm useless to her. She's a shell of who she used to be and I'd rather not watch her deteriorate more, so I'm happy to go. Would you mind helping me gather my things, Mina?"

"Um," Mina shot a quick glance at Artemis, "sure."

They walked back to the room he had been staying in and quietly shut the door.

"Be careful," he said almost instantly.

"Careful?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Despite herself, she felt herself blush.

Tuxedo Mask sighed. "Just… remember who the enemy is, all right?"

"Will you be safe out there? I'm sure if I talk to Serena…"

"You won't be able to change her mind; she's always been stupid and stubborn."

Tuxedo Mask got on his knees, and pulled a box out from underneath his bed. "I'm going to continue to look for the crystal. There are still witches; they gather on the hill when it's safe. I will find the princess before Beryl does, don't you worry about that."

"But will you find the princess before Beryl finds _you_?" Mina asked.

Tuxedo Mask laughed. "I don't know. Maybe she's supposed to find me. You're the Sailor Scout of love, what say you?"

Mina couldn't think of anything to say. He took his box and left.

* * *

 _Sunday_

Mina was navigating the city again. She had heard the tell-tale cackle of a monster, so she was on particularly high alert. Her Venus love beam no longer had the reach that it used to – that meant that she had to get close to the Negaverse creatures to cause any damage, which ironically meant she was bound to get a little burnt.

Serena had not come out to join her on her daily walk through. She had refused to leave her room at all. Mina had been able to feel the pain rolling off of her deeply. If she cared for Tuxedo Mask so, why had she cast him out? She wasn't really brave enough to ask. She feared Serena had lost all hope.

They used to walk around and look for humans to rescue. They weren't many left anymore. Mina had heard rumors that they had gone underground. She kind of hoped that was true. Lita had offered to join her, and Artemis had practically insisted that she not go alone, but she had swayed them by telling them how much Amy would not want them to leave the computers unattended. They knew Amy was dead, didn't they?

Besides, she had things to do.

She went into the alleyway and saw the handsome blond man leaning against the wall, half-shrouded in shadow. "It took you long enough," Jadeite said.

"It's not my fault I have to look out for your whack monsters. Do you have any info?" she asked.

"Beryl is desperate to find the prince. She's also not happy that you Sailor Scouts are still around. She's afraid you'll stage a coup against her new regime."

Mina rolled her eyes. "It's not much of a regime. You guys are losing humans and losing your energy, right?"

Jadeite narrowed his eyes. "Yes."

Mina tried to look indifferent. "The way I figure it, it will all fall apart sometime soon, anyway."

"Yes," he agreed somberly. "You may be right."

"You may be the coup she feared. Is Raye really where you say she is?"

"Yes. She's been kept in a building across from the tower. It's our armory."

"Armory?" Mina asked.

Jadeite shrugged. "If you're serious about this – if you will let me stay with you when Beryl falls, I will show you, Sailor Venus. I will help you rescue Sailor Mars."

Mina nodded. It was a reckless move on her part. That's why she hadn't told the others. She pulled out her communicator. Lita yawned.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I'm going scavenging," Mina said. "Don't wait up for me."

"Wait. Don't we usually scavenge together?" Lita sounded confused.

"Mina!" Artemis's voice insisted. "I will not have you scavenge alone. You know that I am more than capable of managing the computers. Give Lita your coordinates, and she will join you."

"What's that, Artemis? We seem to be having a bad connection. I will let you guys know when I'm done." She hung up.

Jadeite raised an eyebrow. "Bad connection?"

Mina sighed. "Let's just go."

"Will you trust me enough to let me do one thing?"

Mina frowned, but didn't object.

"Hold out your hands."

She did so, and with a simple wave, he placed crystal handcuffs on her wrists. "I'm going to be leading you through Beryl's territory. It won't work unless she thinks you're a prisoner."

Mina felt a knot of tension in her stomach. She remembered Tuxedo Mask's warning words, but it was too late now. "Let's go," she said.

She followed Jadeite down the streets, towards the part of town she and the girls now avoided. "Keep your eyes down, look defeated," he said. There were a gaggle of female monsters, all with different colored skin, standing in front of the tower. They seemed surprised to see Jadeite.

"What do you have there?" one of them cooed.

"It's one of those girls! She's adorable!" another said.

"Oh, Jed, before you lock her up and throw away the key, can we have a little fun with her? Can't we? Please?"

"I'm on strict order to take her to the armory," Jadeite said brusquely. "If you want to play with her, speak with Beryl." He kept walking. Mina followed.

They got to a large metal building that Mina knew used to house the boats from the docks. There was only one other man inside. She tried to keep her demeanor calm when she saw Raye tied to a table with crystalline ropes, badly beaten, her Sailor Suit red with blood.

"I've got Sailor Venus, as requested," Jadeite said.

"Good," said Malachite. "We've got almost all of them now."

Mina sent a look at Jadeite, but his face remained neutral. "She wished to be housed with her former teammate," he said.

"I don't see the problem with that," Malachite said. "This one's gone so stupid, I don't think she can even speak anymore." He jostled Raye's body and her head fell limply toward Mina. Her eyes were wide and glassy. To an outsider, she would appear brain dead. But Mina knew better.

 _It's a trap!_ she heard Raye's voice.

"No!" Mina cried out. She began to fight with her cuffs and Jadeite grabbed her.

"I'm sorry," he said as he began to drag her across the room, "but it was either you or me, so I had to choose you."

"You selfish coward! You insufferable prick! You backstabbing little weasel!" Mina shouted as they tied her down next to Raye. She didn't know what they had done to Raye, but she knew she didn't have the power to detach herself from her body like Raye could – she was practically a goner. "I trusted you!"

"I'm sorry," Jadeite said one last time, face blank.

"I like 'backstabbing little weasel,'" Malachite said with a smirk. "I may start using it in my everyday speech."

" _Moon Tiara Magic!"_

Jadeite had been tying the rope around her left wrist when the tiara struck him. A look of shock, and then a pile of dust. Malachite turned toward the window where Sailor Moon stood.

"You brat."

"You killed one of mine, I killed one of yours," Serena said bluntly.

"The fire girl's still alive."

"I'm talking about Sailor Mercury." She jumped down to the ground and stared down Malachite, who was easily twice as wide as her and almost twice as tall. "I've yet to figure out how to make you pay for Luna."

Malachite chuckled then. "The cat, you mean?"

"Yes, the cat. Perhaps an exchange is in order. You give me Mars and Venus back right now, to start."

Malachite let out a loud laugh then that echoed off the walls. "You silly girl. You don't know what you speak of. Perhaps I should inform you of the concept of leverage – you do not get to ask for _something_ in exchange for _nothing_."

"I won't kill you, that sounds like something." Serena's tone still betrayed no emotion.

"You've been trying to kill me for months, Sailor Moon. Do you think you could really do so in a straight forward battle?"

"If you're so convinced I'll lose, Malachite, then surely you've no reason to say no?" Serena asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mina saw it. The glimmer in the corner of her eye. " _Nooooo_!" she screamed. She thrashed wildly against the table, feeling the ropes rip through her skin, banging her head against the table.

Serena looked at her, a quizzical expression, and then her eyes widened. A gasp of pain. She looked down at the silver shards sticking through her body. Red engulfing her white bodice. Zoicite laughed from where she stood behind the lead Sailor Scout.

"Oh, Sailor Moon, I must admit I'm a little disappointed! I was expecting more of a, shall we say… _show._ "

Serena dropped to her knees. She opened her mouth and blood ran down her chin. She fell to the floor.

"No!" Mina continued to scream. "No!"

 _She's gone_ , she heard Raye's voice. _You'll hurt yourself._

"NO!" Mina continued to thrash.

Malachite looked at her as if she were a problem child. "Zoicite, take care of Venus."

"Will do."

And then, for Mina, everything went black.

* * *

 _Monday_

"Mina, wake up!"

There was persistent male voice. A pressure on her cheeks.

"Mina!" the voice went on, "If you don't get up this instant, I will claw your eyes out!"

Mina opened her eyes slowly. She was in an apartment. _Her old apartment_. _Her old bed._

"What?" she murmured. "Am I dead?"

"If you're dead, then I am, too," Artemis said from where he crouched on her chest.

"Of course you would be in my heaven, Artemis," Mina said as she sat up, shooing the cat away. She got out of the bed and walked around the apartment. The white walls, covered with a few of her modeling photographs. Her calendar. It was three years ago, right when they had moved to where the rest of the Sailor Scouts were.

The calendar was her cupcake calendar, only, the dates were blank. She knew she used to write everything down, but now there was nothing. "It's a few weeks before Beryl takes over the crystal tower," she mused. "What an odd time for my heaven to take place."

"Mina, will you listen to me, please?!" Artemis jumped up to the desk and started typing on the computer. "You are not in heaven. We are not dead. Look at this."

He tilted the computer monitor towards her. There she saw a drawing of "Sailor V." It was her, with a mask, not unlike Tuxedo Mask's very own.

"What's that?"

"You're famous in this timeline."

"This timeline?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, sleeping beauty," her mentor said, sounding perturbed. "I've been researching while you've been out. Everything is almost the same as it was three years ago, but small things have changed."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm dead? Duh."

"No, because we were sent back to this time. What did you do? You weren't really scavenging, were you?"

Mina sat on the bed and dropped her head. "So you remember that."

"I do," he said. "I was sitting with Lita taking a nap one minute, and the next, waking up here with you. I repeat, what did you do? Some kind of spell? I know Darien was messing with that kind of stuff."

"No. I didn't do any magic." Mina felt her throat tighten. Artemis would never forgive her. "I did something really stupid."

"Serena went to save you," he said gravely.

"Yes," Mina affirmed quietly.

"What happened?"

Mina couldn't hold back a sob. "I think the Negaverse won."

Artemis didn't reply. He just typed away on the computer. He then went and sat next to Mina. "I still have access to contacting Luna – I left her a message to be on a lookout for anything suspicious. You must've reset something in order for us to wake up back here. Maybe that's not such a bad thing, if the Negaverse won, as you say."

Mina picked her head up. "I have to tell the girls!" She opened her nightstand drawer and gasped. Aside from her lingerie, there was nothing. Where was her communicator? _Where was her transformation stick?_

She felt a paw touch her hand. "It's not there, Mina," Artemis said gently. "I don't think you're a Sailor Scout in this time."

"You don't think I'm a –"

"I told you. Some small things are different."

" _Small_?!"

"We'll have to proceed carefully from here on out," Artemis went on like he hadn't heard her. "We have to make sure we know everything about this timeline before we inadvertently mess something up."

Mina gave a bark of a laugh. "What do I care about messing things up?" she said. "I'm fucking dead."

"No, Mina, you're not." Artemis touched her cheek. "Somehow, you're alive."

Things had advanced quickly from that point on; Artemis had told Mina to get dressed and gather up something to write with – they were going to the library. Normally Mina would've complained, but she was too busy noticing the small things that were different. Her favorite pair of shoes were no longer teal, but sky blue. Artemis remarked that he could not see the difference. So typical for a cat, but Mina, the human, could.

They passed by the arcade. Mina could remember this day. This was the day Raye had told her that she was going to ask Darien out. But the girls were sitting in the booth without her – Raye sending not so surreptitious glances in the direction of the older boy every few minutes. Mina didn't even realize that her face was pressed against the glass until she heard Artemis say, "Hey, wasn't that game called _Monster Destroyers_ before?"

Now it was the _Sailor V_ game.

* * *

 _Tuesday_

Books. Mina didn't know that so many books existed in the world. She was beginning to suspect that everything had simply multiplied in this timeline. Her arms were full. Artemis walked ahead of her, back straight, balancing three books himself. "Hurry up," he said, but Mina didn't really feel like walking faster.

"Artemis, you said it yourself that you don't know where to even start. What's the point of doing research if no one's been stuck in my predicament?"

"You've always been full of yourself, Mina." Artemis said, upturning his whiskers, "who says you're the only one this happened to?"

"You're right, Artemis," Mina said, quickly opening the top book and pointing at a paragraph. "It says here that another teenager just like me died and woke up three years in the past… And oh, look at this, she lost her superpowers, too!"

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Enough with the sarcasm."

"You're one to talk, "Mina muttered. They continued to walk until a person pushed past them. "Hey!" Mina exclaimed. Artemis's ears twitched.

"Attack in the park!" the girl cried as she ran off. Chaos began to happen around them as others started to flee.

"Mina, don't –" Artemis started, but it was too late. He saw long blonde hair push though the throngs of people as Mina ran in the opposite direction of most.

It took Artemis a long time to find Mina, and when he did she was sitting at a hill overlooking the attack at the frisbee golf course. A red, fiendish monster attacked Mercury, Mars and Jupiter with gusto. Mina sat stoically and still. It was an odd sight.

"You shouldn't be sitting so close. That monster could suck your energy."

At first, he thought she wouldn't respond.

"Where's Serena? She should be here by now."

"She should?"

"Yes. I remember this battle."

"You _remember_ …?"

"Yes. I was already with the team at this point." Mina narrowed her eyes. "I don't understand why I'm not here, but I really don't understand why she's missing."

The sun was setting by the time Serena arrived. Mina couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as she watched the girl move the same as she had during the war. It was like watching a ghost.

* * *

 _Wednesday_

Mina did not speak much that night or the day after. Instead, she and Artemis sat in silence inside of her apartment, pouring over books. Artemis would've been proud of his protégé's studious nature, if only he didn't know for sure that she was drowning in her thoughts.

"Anything interesting?" he prodded.

"Nothing yet," Mina said listlessly, turning a page. "I will let you know if I find something."

"You know," Artemis began, "I've been thinking, and I don't know if we can do this on our own."

Mina turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I am thinking we might need to talk to someone affiliated with this time. Spending all of our time holed up in our room won't do us any good if we don't know why we're here – and I expect we are here to do good."

Mina's eyes lit up. "You're going to tell the other girls?"

"No. I'm still wary of inadvertently changing something we're not supposed to. But there is someone I feel fairly confident confiding in."

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Luna," Artemis said simply. "I know her very well. I trust her implicitly. She will have as much interest in protecting the sanctity of time as I will. There is no one else we can talk to."

Artemis expected a fight, or even some disappointment, but Mina jumped up and clapped her hands. "We're going to talk to Luna?!"

"Yes. I think we have to." Artemis turned to the computer. "There may be someone spying on our actions, so I we have to proceed with the upmost caution – Hey!" Artemis was picked up by Mina mid-sentence, and they were halfway to the door before he realized where they were going. "Not _now_ , Mina. It's late. Serena's probably in bed."

"No, she isn't," Mina said as she opened the door. "She's in battle. Luna's waiting for her."

"And just how do you know that?"

"I don't know!" Mina responded cheerily. "Isn't it great?"

When they got to Serena's house, all the lights were off except for the one in Serena's bedroom, and they could see Luna's shadow pacing around the window.

"She does seem to be waiting for something," Artemis said, almost to himself.

Mina went to the vine fence and began to climb up without hesitation. Artemis jumped onto her shoulder. "I bet she didn't know she was waiting for us, huh?"

Artemis didn't agree with Mina's gusto, but all he said was, "Don't get caught by her parents, Mina. As far as we know you're not even her friend."

He felt Mina wince at that, but she said, "Don't you worry, Artemis. I can talk my way out of anything."

When Mina got to the window, a black ball attacked.

"Ahhh!" Mina screamed as she felt claw marks in her face. She wrapped her arms around the fence, trying not to fall.

"Please, Luna," Artemis said as he hopped down onto the windowsill. "I've never known you to be the type to attack first and ask questions later."

Mina felt the creature remove itself from her facial area and she saw Luna walk around and inspect Artemis. "Who are you?" she said in a far more colder tone than Mina had heard from Luna before.

"My name is Artemis. You know me probably best as Central Contol."

" _You're_ Central Control?"

"I know you're wary of someone spying. I sent that message because Mina and I found ourselves in quite a predicament. I think you might be able to help us. Mina, come on in."

Mina was hanging upside down from the railing and groaning. "Easy for you to say - you weren't just attacked."

"That's what you get for coming inside without properly introducing yourself. Please forgive her; I think she forgets that you haven't met her yet."

"She _forgets_ what?" Luna asked. She jumped onto the bed and stared at the young girl crawling through the window. Despite her superficial scratches, she stared at Luna with a mixture of affection and awe.

"I really never thought I'd see you again, Luna."

Luna seemed unnerved by the tears the girl began to shed. "Who are you? You should explain quickly."

"We know that Serena will be back from battle shortly," Artemis said. Luna's fur stuck up at the mention of Sailor Moon's name. "But we need your help. Badly. Mina and I know you, even if you don't know us. And I know you will help us. I know that you _can_."

"Help you with what? You're Artemis, and you're …?"

"I'm Mina. I'm Sailor Venus – well, I was."

"Sailor Venus? Like the video game?" Luna didn't sound convinced. "Perhaps we should wait for Serena for this conversation."

"Normally, I would agree with you," Artemis said. "But given that Mina and I have found ourselves three years in the past, I think you would agree it's for the best that we not introduce ourselves to too many people."

That took Luna aback. " _What?!"_

"It's obviously a long story –"

"A long story I don't need to hear if there's any truth to it whatsoever. Time is a very precarious thing."

"I understand, Luna. Please believe that you and I are friends in our time –"

Luna gritted her teeth. "What part of not telling me anything do you not understand?"

Artemis bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

Mina had been standing quietly against the wall, but then she ran up to Luna and gave her a hug. Her tears spilled onto the cat's fur. The only sound in the room was Mina's sobs.

When she finally pulled away and wiped at her nose, Luna nodded. "It will be all right, Mina. Here, this is yours."

Luna did a flip and dropped two things: Mina's transformation stick and her communicator. Her chest caught in her throat. "I'm Sailor Venus again?"

"Yes, you are. I knew it from the moment you touched me. I don't know how, but it gives me reason to listen you two. Now, let's get out of here before Serena returns. We need to figure out what's going on, and quickly."

* * *

 _Saturday_

On Friday, Luna and Artemis decided to shut down the network entirely until they figured out exactly what was going on. Mina finally had access to her communicator again, and even though the cats claimed it was the best for everyone to shut things down, she partially suspected they didn't trust her to keep herself away from the girls.

Not that she gave them much reason to.

"All I'm saying is that we must've been sent back for a reason," Mina said.

"From the sounds of it, Raye did something she should not have been able to do," Luna answered promptly. "We have no idea of what consequences may happen if you were to contact the other Scouts."

"But the universe didn't explode when Artemis and I talked to you!" Mina argued. They were back in her apartment. She was grateful that everything was more or less the same, but she was starting to feel like she was in more danger of dying from boredom than from any Negaverse attack.

"I was able to give you your wand," Luna said from where she sat next to Artemis in front of the computer, "but that still doesn't mean I think you should use it."

"I'm Sailor Venus. The girls need me. I already battled with them by this point before."

"Precisely, Mina," Artemis said. "You joined the Scouts earlier in our timeline, and our timeline didn't work out. Not only do Luna and I have the difficult job of trying to figure out how to not reveal too much of the future, we also have to figure out how to stop things from happening that way again."

"If we can even do that," Luna said. "I still haven't heard how it ended, but I'm guessing it wasn't good – and I just don't know if you can really undo a future like that."

"Don't tell me that you believe in fate, Luna!" Artemis said, sounding surprised.

"I don't know what I believe. Maybe in threads."

"Threads?" Mina asked.

"Yes. Like pathways we're supposed to follow, and they keep jumping out at us until we do."

"Hmmm…" Mina said. Artemis chuckled.

"All this talk of thread is making me think of a nice ball of yarn!"

Luna chuckled herself and blushed. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Why don't I go get you some?!" Mina jumped up quickly. The two cats exchanged wary glances.

"Look, you can't keep me locked up in here forever!" Mina insisted. "I still exist. I'm a well-paid model in case you forgot." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a shiny credit card and dangled it above the felines. "I can buy all the yarn you want."

It did not take much convincing for Luna and Artemis to let her out of the house, even if Luna insisted she use cash to avoid a paper trail. Mina even offered to buy the cats fish – of course, she didn't tell them she was going to the market on the other side of town.

The one Lita went to.

She felt her heart jump into her chest when she saw her old friend at the counter. What could she do? What could she say? She wanted to hug her and tell her how much she missed her, but that wouldn't be practical.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and went in.

Lita seemed quite disturbed. Just being in the presence of her friend made the hairs on her arm stand up. She tried to make small talk, but found it harder than she had anticipated. Lita was in another universe entirely. Despite the voice in her head warning her against it, she subtly tried to let Lita know about the monster attack she remembered, and then she bid her farewell.

Luna was sitting on the railing in front of the docks when Mina came out.

"Find any yarn in there?" Luna asked.

Mina rolled her eyes. "Just shut up," she said as she headed back to her apartment.

* * *

 _Sunday_

There was one thing that intrigued Mina mercilessly about this timeline, and it was a videogame.

What had time traveling done to make her _famous_? Famous for something other than being on the cover of Teen Vogue, of course. She had researched herself more than anything else during the days Artemis told her to read – what else was she to do? No book could help them with their predicament. But old newspapers?

They told her that she had been a vigilante.

No one even knew if she existed. It was all very romantic. But why had she fought alone? In her memories, she became a Sailor Scout after meeting Serena at school. Just another weird thing about this time she didn't understand.

When she told Artemis and Luna she was going to investigate herself some more, she hadn't been lying. Of course, she didn't tell them that she was going to the Crown to play the new videogame. Luna would've had had something to say about that. At least the cat had refrained from tailing her; she had seen how badly the interaction with Lita had hurt Mina, and did not expect a repeat. Mina actually agreed – it was easier if she didn't think of these girls as her former friends, but rather as aliens that had taken over their bodies. Mina also suspected that the "Missing Luna" posters were starting to get to her.

She was in her stealthiest disguise – a thick jacket and beanie when she went in the arcade and began playing the game. She was pretty impressed. Not only was she famous, but she had a pretty kick ass arcade machine! She actually got swept up for a moment.

"Oh, somebody's already playing it," she heard a mellifluous voice say. She tried not to turn to the sound, but did anyway. Serena stood next to Andrew, and her face looked joyous, the complete opposite of the way she had looked at the park, despite the bruise marring her cheek.

Andrew said something about the game, and Mina looked away quickly. She felt both sets of eyes on her, but then they were gone.

After about half an hour, she was beginning to feel stuffy in her jacket, and then Andrew brought her a sundae.

"Anyone who works this hard at a game deserves one," he said.

"Thanks, Andrew," Mina said. She cringed at the slip of using his name, but he must've been used to people knowing him because he paid her no mind. Mina followed Andrew over to the bar and took off her winter clothes, relieved to be able to breathe.

Andrew was staring at her like she had grown a second head. She then realized all she wore was a form-fitting white tank top.

"What?" Mina asked, running her hands through her now freely-flowing hair. She recognized his look, but never had she been looked at like that by Andrew; it was strange. He actually had the gall to blush.

"I thought you were some thirteen-year-old kid," he said as he cleaned a glass.

Mina yawned and then bit into her ice cream. "Well, I'm not."

"I can, er, see."

Mina laughed. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

Andrew blinked. "A fiancée; how did you know?"

"You just have that vibe," Mina lied.

Andrew leaned on his shoulders on the counter and put his face close to hers. "You seem like a nice young woman."

"I have a feeling you're going to ask me something."

"Yes. What are you doing Saturday?"

Now it was Mina's turn to be shocked. "Didn't you just say you weren't available?"

Andrew stood up quickly. "Not for a date. I just wanted you to meet some friends of mine."

 _Darien,_ Mina thought. "Ohhh," she said. "I get it now. You're trying to set me up."

"He's a nice guy."

Mina yawned again and picked up her coat.

"Don't go!" Andrew said.

"You don't even know me. How do you know me and your friend would get on?"

"I don't," Andrew said. "But he's a real great guy, and I worry about him. And you seem nice. You just have to say hello to him. Flirt with him. Build up his confidence. I'll give you twenty dollars!"

"Jeez! You're making him sound like some kind of troll. Keep your friendship money; I'll come out if I can. I've been studying a lot."

"Oh, yeah, you've seemed tired. Here," Andrew said, handing her a cup of coffee. Mina smiled.

"You seem very sweet," she said as she took a sip. He had even put all the sugar in it. How had he known? She tried not to think of what would happen to him – she didn't want to cry. "I'll try," she repeated.

He told her the club and the time, and Mina went on her way. She was surprised when she ran into Serena a few blocks away, talking to herself.

* * *

After the meeting with Serena went so well, Mina decided not to head back to the apartment. She was having too much fun being out of the house. Her mind must've been on her friends because her feet subconsciously took her to the temple.

Raye wasn't at home, so she took the opportunity to sneak around. _Manga! She even had a manga series about herself!_

Mina's grandfather eventually caught her and told Mina a joke she had heard a million times before. That was when she felt it. Her mind flashed to a different time. Beryl was holding Mina's intestine and then looking into her eyes. "What makes these girls so special? Where does _their_ energy come from?"

* * *

That night, Mina waited until she heard Luna sleeping to tell Artemis about Raye.

"You must've been seeing your future," he said. "Or rather, the one you would've had."

"But I was _dead_ ," Mina emphasized.

"Yeah, that's true," Artemis said. "But you're not anymore, so let's just try to figure out what Raye did to you. You're really not focusing on the not-dead stuff enough in my opinion."

Artemis fell asleep curled up in Mina's arms, but she felt lonelier than ever. For the first time since she had been back, she felt like she had been told she wasn't supposed to come back. All the girls were fine without her. What was she here for? What could she do?

* * *

 _The Next Sunday_

"What are you doing here?" Mina whispered.

Luna was in her yard, staring up at Serena's window, where they could see the girl gazing out to the moon.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm not the one who comes here every night and stares. Luna, why don't you just go home? Artemis and I can handle it."

"Right now, Mina, you need me. Unfortunately, I cannot help you and help Serena. I already know too much. Until we figure out why you're here, I can't expose myself to the girls again. The problem is, Serena was already unwell before you showed up, and I fear she's getting worse."

"Maybe that's why I'm here! Maybe I'm supposed to help her!"

"Maybe you are. But then again, none of your meetings went very well, did they? Lita was distant, you ruined Serena's things, Raye practically tore a hole in the universe. You don't take those as signs?"

"I take them as suggestions," Mina said.

Luna chuckled. "You're not supposed to intervene. I am starting to think you intervened too soon before and that's how you were able to come back. Your reality wasn't supposed to exist at all. I feel like now we're just biding time until something big happens, and then you can help."

"Back in my time, Beryl had already made her move."

"Exactly." Luna said. Serena turned off the light and she was gone from the window. "Let's go home, and no longer interfere with Sailor Scout business."

Mina almost told Luna about telling Darien of the witches on the hill, but decided against it. Luna did not seem to know that he was Tuxedo Mask, and besides, the cat would have condemned her. But she stood by her decision. He had, after all, given her a good piece of advice, at a different time.

* * *

 _Monday_

Artemis was ready for the computers to be put back online – there was now absolutely no reason to suspect their lines were in danger, but they had to give access back to the Mercury computer. When Amy wasn't at home they decided to go to Lita's apartment, but no one was there. Fortunately, Mina remembered that the tall brunette kept her spare key in the vase by the front door. What greeted them inside was not something they had expected: an amazing amount of research, all in Amy's hand. Luna's eyes glistened as she looked on proudly. "She was so close to solving this herself."

"This note here says she went to the library," Artemis said from the counter. "Do we know where that is?"

"The college one, most def," Mina said. "The school one is lame."

"We should hurry up and get over there. Of course, Amy is cautious. We'll have to devise a plan to separate her from her bag."

And that was why Mina bumped into Amy and dropped all her papers. ("How do you know she will help you pick them up?" Artemis asked. "It's Amy, duh," Mina replied, "I don't care what timeline she's in.")

Artemis jumped behind Amy's back as she gathered the scattered papers. Mina wasn't very interested in the research, although for fun she had brought some actual work she had done just to see if Amy would catch it – she didn't – and that was why she didn't notice when one of her sheets was missing.

Outside they hid behind a newspaper as the girls fluttered past, calling Serena who said she wasn't feeling well and was totally tired. Her words didn't make much sense. Mina felt Luna's body tense beside her; she was very worried about Serena, perhaps as much as her owner was for her **.**

* * *

 _Tuesday_

Without Luna's permission, but wanting Serena to feel better, Mina decided to leave a note.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It was raining outside the temple. The Sailor Scouts were gathered at their usual seats. Mina, still in her day clothes, sat across from Sailor Mars. She rather felt like she was being stared down. Artemis, from his spot in her lap, gulped.

"I feel you, you know. You were right that you don't belong here," Raye said rather coldly. Mina hung her head.

"I'm inclined to disagree," Sailor Mercury interjected.

"Yeah, if Amy's about to say what I think she is, she's right," Artemis said. "We must be here for a reason."

"Exactly," agreed Amy, who had started to take a liking to the white cat. "I refuse to believe that time will bend itself for no reason. And they've bided for as long as they can."

"But why are they here?" Sailor Jupiter spoke up.

"I didn't want to mess it up," Artemis said, "but I was pretty sure from the start we were meant to make sure that things didn't turn out like they did last time."

"Duh," Raye said. "But why didn't you introduce yourselves sooner?"

"We didn't know what to do," Artemis said simply.

"Look at it this way, Raye: they were given a game with no rules. Artemis did the best he could; he personally investigated Negaverse's computer system and mapped it out more than we ever have."

"More than we did in the past timeline, too," he added. "I didn't know what else to do, so yes, mostly for selfish reasons, I approached Luna. Because she is my partner and she is brilliant and I knew she would've come up with a plan. And she did. A rather risky one."

"Where is Luna now?" Raye asked.

"She's in hiding," Amy said. "Part of the plan."

"Don't tell me you know about this top-secret plan, Ames!" Mars's face turned red.

"I don't," Amy said. "I merely speculate."

"She's as good as figured it out then, hasn't she?" said Jupiter.

"Probably," Artemis said.

"What about Serena," Mina finally spoke. "Shouldn't she be here?"

"Meatball Brain's still incognito. I thought that was part of your plan?" Raye said.

"It was part of mine," Jupiter spoke up. "Amy agreed to it."

"Speaking of, we should probably stop using our first names soon," Amy said. "Mina, transform. We will be having company."

"Company?" Raye and Artemis echoed.

Mina looked down at her transformation wand. She hadn't been Sailor Venus in what felt like so long.

 _Venus Power!_

Her hair stood on end. Every fiber of her being felt alive. When she finished, she stood in front of the girls, feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious.

"You're really her," Sailor Mars breathed. "You're really Sailor V."

"You can call me Venus if you want; it's really okay with me."

"Of course you're Venus!" Jupiter beamed. "You're one of us! You've been one of us for a long time and we just didn't know it yet!"

"But you don't _get it_ ," Mars said. "I have a _poster_ of you, for crying out loud…"

"The manga seems a bit exaggerated. All of it, really." Mina smiled. "My adventures would've been much better if I'd been part of a team."

"Also probably if you weren't killed," Mars said bluntly, but Mina laughed. She was with the girls again. Her best friends were all alive. She felt home.

"Speaking of guests, I think he's almost here. I can feel him lurking around," Jupiter said, standing from the table abruptly.

"Tuxedo Mask?" Mina asked.

Amy nodded. "There's a bit of a plan involving him, too."

* * *

It happened suddenly. Darien had been at Andrew's apartment above the arcade, having dinner with his friend and Rita when his eyes started to glaze over. Andrew knew the look well; Darien _never_ remembered it, but _he_ knew what it meant.

He was about to metamorphosize.

"You look ill, Darien," he said, picking his friend up by the arm and pulling him to the bedroom. Darien came along easily, like there was no life inside of his body. It was a shell for whatever was to come next.

"Is he all right?" Rita asked.

"He's been studying hard. I think I'll put him to bed," Andrew assured her over his shoulder. He shut the door, and turned back to Darien – now Tuxedo Mask.

It was funny, he thought, how he knew they were the same person, and yet they seemed to be so different.

"You always transform at inopportune times."

"There must be a battle," Darien said as he straightened his gloves. His alter-ego was usually very calm and collected. He now seemed fidgety.

"You feeling okay?"

"What's that mean? Of course I am fine. I just have to be leaving."

"Okay. Just making sure. You seem … off."

"Your concern is noted," he said coldly. "I need to see Sailor Moon now. You'll have a cover story for Rita?"

"If I can cover for you in the middle of a crowded study hall, I think I can tell my girlfriend you had an embarrassing incident – _so_ embarrassing you chose to leave out the window."

Tuxedo Mask visibly winced. Andrew tried not to giggle.

"Just say what you have to. See you later."

Darien jumped out the window and leapt away into the night. Andrew waved him off.

"Be careful! I will let you know if you show up on the news!"

* * *

Jupiter went to the door and let the man in. He was wet, hair clinging to his forehead. He looked so young in the firelight. Mina fought the urge to hug him. Instead she waved. "Hello."

He turned to Jupiter. "Another one?"

"This is Sailor Venus," Mercury said. "She's here to help us find Sailor Moon."

He looked uncomfortable at that. "Well, go on then," Jupiter said rather forcefully, pushing him toward the table. "Tell 'em what you told me."

He sat. He kept his eyes on Sailor Mars, perhaps because she was at the head of the table. The fact that a white cat was paying rapt attention seemed lost on him. "I transform when Sailor Moon feels an extreme emotion, and that's how I find her."

"And…?" Sailor Jupiter prompted.

"I also think I transform when she's trying hard to keep me out. Like last night, several times today, and now. I feel static, then silence. And then I change."

"So ironically Sailor Moon shutting you off has made you Tuxedo Mask more than ever," Sailor Venus said.

He frowned. "Yes, I guess you could say so."

"Well what's the plan, then?" Sailor Mars asked impatiently. "You don't know where she is, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, Mercury…?" Mars turned to the blue-haired scout.

"It's like what I told you earlier, Sailor Mars; I thought you of all people would understand. He's going to fold back against the source. Tuxedo Mask, have you tried to _call_ her?"

He looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"You said there's static."

"Not literally," he said.

"Oh, you dingus!" Sailor Jupiter said. "Look, obviously she has to try real hard to keep you out, so why don't you just break your way in."

Mars nodded. "I understand now. Her will is weak in that regard: exploit it."

Venus was practically hopping in her seat. "It's a fantastic idea. I can't believe you guys didn't pick up on the thread between them in the future!"

"We didn't?" Mercury asked.

Venus shook her head. "I don't even think Sailor Moon knows. Er, knew. Sorry, it's confusing."

"Future?" Tuxedo Mask inquired.

"It's a long story," Mercury said, "and not one we have much time to dwell on. Could you please try to find Sailor Moon and tell her it's very important that she go home tonight?"

Mercury did not tell Tuxedo Mask that the very next day was Serena's sixteenth birthday.

Tuxedo Mask didn't say another word and left with a dramatic flourish of his cape.

Lita laughed. "He cracks me up. He'll do anything for Serena, huh?"

* * *

Serena was sitting on a roof and staring at the small sliver of the moon visible behind the crying clouds. She had been gone for almost two days now. Tomorrow was her birthday. Sixteen. She had been so excited for it, but now it felt just like any other day.

She had not found Mina. She had not found Luna. She had destroyed her communicator in a fit of rage the day she ran away. No one to talk to. Nothing but the night. Nothing but the dreams. As Sailor Moon, she saw everyone die – Raye, Lita, Amy. And they had died because of her. She still didn't know what she had done, but something about being in Sailor Moon form made her feel guilty, so guilty it emanated through her bones.

She was not entirely surprised when Tuxedo Mask found her. She had forced herself not to think of him – to keep his phantom at bay. Being without him had made her realize she did not love him. She would not be like Darien; her heart didn't belong to a trick in her brain.

"You called out to me," he said quietly from where he stood on the other side of the roof. She was on the same building overlooking the docks.

"Not on purpose," she said wearily. "I guess I just couldn't keep you out anymore. You're free to go if you want. I release you," she said, with a wave of her hand.

He laughed. "I am not a genie." She was enveloped in a hug – no, a hold – so quickly, that she was almost certain Tuxedo Mask must've teleported.

"Oh, Sailor Moon, why don't you understand? Keeping me away makes me sick. Literally. I feel fatigued and lost. I am supposed to help you. I care for you greatly. You are in pain. Let me help."

"I'm sorry, Tuxedo Mask," she said, disengaging herself from his grasp, "but I don't think there's much I can do in the way of using you. The situation makes me uncomfortable."

He looked at her for a long moment. "I understand." He turned away, and then began to pace, as if thinking. "I looked for you with the other scouts. They were worried. They wanted to use our bond to find you. Of course, I could feel you, even when you didn't want me to. I guess that was the point. You were doing what you felt was best, but it felt to me like a great cruelty. I was being shoved away. It was quite painful. Even moreso than your anger."

Serena felt that guilt again. "I'm sorry. I guess I have a tendency of messing things up."

"Don't say that. I don't know why we're tethered together, but I've already told you, even if we weren't I would still help you. Because you're good and true. I can feel it in the air. Your heart is pure and you do what you must to protect your friends.

"They didn't tell me why you ran away, but I knew it must've been something like that. You were trying to keep them safe."

"No." Serena shook her head. "I was angry. I didn't feel in control."

"If you had stayed, could you have hurt them?"

"…Maybe. I guess. I don't know."

"Sounds like you were protecting them to me. Just something to consider." Tuxedo Mask pulled out a rose and handed it to her. Serena turned it over in her hand. Without thinking, she pulled off her right glove and felt the bare rose against her palm. It pricked her finger. She bled.

Tuxedo Mask watched, entranced.

"I did not know my roses had thorns."

"This one did," Serena said. She dropped the rose and put her index finger to her mouth. "I'm not going back."

"Back to your scouts?"

"Back to any of it. Back to my parents or the life I have outside of Sailor Moon. You only know Sailor Moon, but I know me. And I know things are going to get worse from here on out."

"That can't be true," Tuxedo Mask insisted. "When we work together – when we find the princess, we will be able to stop the Negaverse."

Serena raised an eyebrow. "This is the first you've spoken of beating the Negaverse."

He had the decency to look shamed. "I am not particularly interested in stopping the monsters, as you must have noticed. That's why I couldn't lie and tell you I was on your side. I do not feel that being attached to you is a burden, but as far as I'm concerned, I have one goal, and that is to find the princess."

Serena could barely contain her surprise. "The princess? She seems pretty popular."

"She is valuable to the Sailor Scouts because she represents peace. She is valuable to me because I know her."

"You… you _know_ her?" Serena felt her chest clench. _No, it couldn't be…_

"She comes to me in my dreams. She has since I was eleven-years-old," Tuxedo Mask began, and then it all fell away. Whatever kept him hidden slipped from Serena's view like she had just bought a new pair of glasses. She could see it now. His dark hair. His pointed chin.

Darien.

It had been him all along.

It seemed so obvious now. She realized in that instance she'd had inklings before, but they had always slipped through the cracks in her mind like soap.

 _Darien._

She couldn't believe it. She sat down. He was still telling his story.

Of course, she had heard it before.

"And that is why I feel the Sailor Scouts and I will always be at odds," he finished. He approached Serena and grabbed her naked hand. "But I am on your side, Sailor Moon. You are both a lost, scared girl and a fearsome warrior. And I am grateful every day that someone, somewhere chose me to fight with you."

Serena stood to Tuxedo Mask and stared him down. Darien's eyes shone through. His eyebrows. How had she not seen it before? What was she supposed to do now, reveal herself?

Instead, she took off her other glove and dropped it to the ground. She placed her hands on either side of his face and pressed her forehead against his. She felt his pulse speed up. She knew how confused he must feel.

"Tuxedo Mask," she began, "I mean this in the nicest way, but you are a very sad man."

He jerked his head away. "Excuse me?!"

Serena shrugged. "It sounds to me like you _like_ being chained. I tell you I don't want you, and you beg to stay. The princess tells you she's unhappy and you do everything within your power to appease her." Serena hoped Darien wouldn't storm off without getting her point – as Sailor Moon, she had pull and he may well listen.

Or he may well talk.

"Well it sounds to me, _Miss Sailor Moon_ , that you enjoy running away from your problems instead of facing them head-on. Your friends have been worried sick about you." He paused. " _I've_ been worried sick about you."

"You're too sweet, Tuxedo Mask," Sailor Moon said, not entirely able to hide her venom. Instead, she sighed and walked back to a glove to put it back on. She knelt next to it.

"You think you hold all the cards," Tuxedo Mask said. He then kicked her in the ass, causing her to sprawl across the cement and hit her head. "Why are you here, Sailor Moon?"

Her mind flashed to images of her dreams. Mars's lifeless body floating away. She sat up and glared.

"It's none of your business."

"I didn't mean any of your existential crap," Tuxedo Mask said, and yes, he was so thoroughly Darien, how had she never seen it before? Perhaps because just a few weeks ago Darien had been a jerk and Tuxedo Mask had been a dream, and she'd never seen past the black and white until now.

 _Black and white_. Tuxedo Mask had said that the night he helped her.

"I don't know what existential means," Serena said as she pushed herself up. Palms raw and scraped. "But I'd rather you just stop talking altogether."

She charged at him and threw him against the door leading down to the building. The same door she had punched him into before.

They had been here _before._

"The first time we dueled, Sailor Moon." He pulled himself upright. The sleeve on his jacket was torn. "I can make _you_ go where _I_ want you to, too. You can thank your Sailor friends for that."

"Oooh, you jerk!" Serena shouted. "Stop messing with me right now!"

"Do you mean moving your soul or this?" He whipped out his cane and slapped Serena's feet, forcing her to fall straight backwards onto the concrete again. She winced.

She sat there for a minute and let the small, calm rain hit her face. It was all right; they were only sprinkles, and she could still see the moon. His mask came into view. His eyes concerned; looking not unlike he had that night he kept waking her up. He blocked her from the rain.

She ripped off his sleeve.

"What'd you do that for?!" he exclaimed. Then his eyes calmed again. "I didn't come here to fight you, Sailor Moon. Sailor Mercury told me to tell you to go home."

"Why?" the retort came without thinking. "If you knew me in real life, you'd know I'm just a nuisance to my parents."

 _Darien, I wish I could tell you._

She wanted to spill her guts to her friend, but he didn't know he was her friend. But did that really negate their friendship? She wasn't sure, so she just started talking. He wasn't Tuxedo Mask at all, and if she closed her eyes, it was easier for her to remember.

"You don't know how much I make my mom's life hell. How much I embarrass my brother, even though he doesn't deserve it. How much I miss my dad because he works so much. How much my dad hates me getting older. You don't know any of that."

She looked at him. He looked sad.

"Because I'm just Tuxedo Mask and you're Sailor Moon."

"Exactly."

Darien laid down next to her.

"I want the princess to leave me alone. Every night, I pray she's not there. I'd rather dream of you."

"You don't know me. I'm just like the princess. I'm what you think I am. Think, Mr. Mask, and stop dwelling on ghosts."

"Is that what you are?" He turned over and rested his head on his palm, not unlike that night he touched her arm.

"To you, yeah. I have to fight the Negaverse. I've accepted my fate. But there's not a day that goes by I wish it wasn't true."

"That's how I feel about the princess. But I guess being Sailor Moon is more important than dreams." He put his hand on her thigh, just below her skirt. She felt a blush spread across her skin. "Do you remember that night I took your skirt off?"

 _Only all the time._

"Once in a while."

"I didn't realize I was Tuxedo Mask at first. My friend did."

 _Andrew?_

"Oh? And what did your friend say?" His hand didn't seem to want to move. Serena almost contemplated shaking it off, like a bug.

"He helped me conduct tests. All very scientific. I already knew about feeling your feelings, but he helped me confirm that was the catalyst for transformation. He would undress me to see when I'd change back. I can't lose my mask, or my shirt, or my trousers. I thought … I hoped … I was just seeing what would happen if I took off your skirt."

She twitched at that. The hand stayed. "You were trying to figure my identity out."

"That was third. First, you were bleeding so much I had to help you. That was the most fabric you had on hand."

 _Medical school._

"You had your jacket."

"I didn't think of it."

"Why not?"

"Because I wanted to see what was underneath your skirt."

Serena blushed more. "You shouldn't say stuff like that."

The rain had started to subside.

"I know I don't know you, but I've thought of you non-stop since that night. Without your feelings, I feel empty and alone."

"You shouldn't feel anything based on someone else. Stop listening to girls who aren't real. It sucks."

He laughed, then. That nice warm laugh that Serena liked to get from Darien.

"You sound like a friend of mine."

 _Me._

"She sounds wise."

"How'd you know she was a girl?"

"Girls always say smart stuff like that."

And then he kissed her.

Serena had always imagined her first kiss being with… well, to be honest with herself, she never really thought Tuxedo Mask would kiss her, except maybe a couple of years ago when they first met.

Recently, she had assumed her first kiss would be at a truth-or-dare or spin the bottle party. Or maybe a nice new boy would come to school and he would take her out for pizza and then kiss her very gently goodnight. She would close her eyes and daydream that he had been Tuxedo Mask, even if it weren't true, and she would just hole that memory up into her brain forever and never let it out of its box.

But now she really was being kissed by Tuxedo Mask! Unfortunately, all she could think of was Darien – he smelled like Darien, he tasted of Darien, he was warm like Darien. He kissed precisely like the brush strokes on the painting above Darien's boring bed.

He was kissing her, but he didn't know her. She would never kiss Darien like this again, and he didn't even seem to know it. His hand slid lower under her skirt.

"Stop thinking," he breathed against her lips. "Feel what I'm feeling. _Please_."

Serena resumed the kissing and tried to concentrate on the man next to her.

She felt it.

The warmth and the admiration and the fear that she didn't like it. How could he think that?! She felt how much he cared for her, how he always would, how he knew he didn't know who she was but he knew he would like her just the same.

He stopped the kiss. They were both breathing heavily.

"Well?" he asked, sounding almost scared.

"Oh, shuddup," Serena captured his mouth with hers again.

His hand this time went to the middle of her thighs and she let out a cry of delight. He grunted against her lips. Serena hadn't realized things would get so heated, but she was now so aroused she figured she'd go with it. In something resembling a rhythm, she rubbed herself against his hand.

She felt his erection on her thigh before she saw it.

"Fuck it!" He sat up. Serena almost did as well, but he held up his palm. He whipped off his hat and tore off his coat, but not before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cane. He then pulled out a rose and very gently placed it behind Serena's ear. "No thorns," he promised. Serena felt more exposed with the gesture than she had with the grinding, and she didn't like it.

"What's that for?" Serena asked, hoping to break the tension.

"Ah, the cane. For this, really. Lay back, would you?"

And then, this time tenderly and slowly – so slowly Serena feared she might die – Darien went about tearing her skirt off. When it was finished, he held it over his head like a flag, an annoying grin plastered on his face.

"You look awfully proud for doing something I don't understand." Her eyes kept going to the bulge in his pants.

"I have a plan. It's um, well, I have … I have never done anything like this formally with another person, so please, just please, don't hold it against me."

Serena felt her fears dissipate. His fear radiated off of him. "Just come kiss me, you louse."

* * *

"She's gorgeous!" Andrew exclaimed for the millionth time.

"I get it. She's blonde and bosom-y. And…?"

"And what?"

"Why am I supposed to go out with her?" Darien adjusted his sunglasses and pulled a flask from his pocket and added something to his coffee. Andrew looked around quickly, just to make sure no police were walking by the arcade. They were standing by the bar again.

"You know this place is for kids, right?"

"Oh, calm down," Darien said as he drank. "No one even noticed."

"Okay, so back to the girl: her name is Mina. And, get this, _she's a model_!"

"And how did you get her to agree to come out?"

"I told her the truth – you were very hot and you didn't get laid enough."

Darien almost sputtered out his coffee, but he was glad he didn't because that would've been a waste of perfectly good liquor.

"You mentioned my sex life to a total stranger?"

"I didn't say it outright!" Andrew said. "It was more of an insinuation. I think I used the word "lonely.""

"Oh, Jesus, she's a prostitute, isn't she?"

"Wha -?" Andrew's face turned crimson. "That's not what her card said." He turned around to the wall featuring Serena's missing cat picture. Her drawing was atrocious, but Darien almost thought it looked cute.

"A card, huh?" Darien said as he took gulps of his coffee. "She must be high-end. An escort, I think they're called."

"Here you go. And don't say "I think" when I know you know exactly what an escort is."

Her card said she was with a well-known clothing company. Darien nodded. "Prostitution probability has dwindled!"

"Fuck yeah!" Andrew shouted. "I told you she was real. And she wanted to meet you. I showed her your picture and everything, 'cause I'm totally gay and keep you in my wallet."

"We're brothers," Darien said as he sipped. "I don't think that's so gay."

"That's a very nice statement, Dare, and I would be even more honored if you weren't drunk when you said it."

" _Buzzed_ ," he corrected.

"Anyway… You need to get laid, Darien. Look, I know you're very private, and I could see how sex, to you, would be a way of giving up that privacy. It's a big deal. It's like a secret shared between two people… or a group if you're into that thing."

"You had a point, I thnk."

"Right. My point was that you give up a lot of yourself. Your approach has been to abstain, while I think you should have sex as much as often so you become desensitized to it. That way you have all the fun, and all the p—"

Two children came up to exchange their tickets for toys and Andrew helped them before returning to his friend. "Where was I?"

"Somewhere I wasn't comfortable with this conversation going to."

"Anyway, my point stands."

"What point are you fucking talking about? You've yet to make one the entire time we've been here."

"My point is – and it's advice, too – is don't have your first time be with a woman you love. It will be messy and it will latch you down forever."

* * *

The kisses were less tense this time around; more precision than aggression. It was the jaw Olympics and Serena wouldn't have had it any other way. She was now painfully wet and felt like if she didn't explode soon she would die. Darien seemed to be having the same trouble, but kept holding off, wincing each time he hit her thigh during the kiss.

"Just get on top of me," she finally said.

"I can't. I mean, I _could_ , but the thing is, we can't remove our clothes. There won't be any point in it."

Serena sighed and grabbed him by the tie, pulling his face in close. "Just do it." And then she kissed him again, sweeter, as she unid his tie and let it fall away.

Darien placed his hand under the small of her back to up. When she did, they made contact together and both let out hisses of pleasure.

"Again," he said roughly, like Serena wasn't totally willing to oblige.

They kept going, trying to get the timing right of their bodies' rise and falls.

"Ohhh," Serena sighed as Darien's mouth moved to her ears. His fingers clawed down on her shoulders as he increased his speed. He ripped off the top shoulders of her uniform.

"Ungh," he grunted into her ear.

Serena crossed her legs over his back and slipped off her boots. She was feeling very _ungh_ herself. "Don't stop," she begged.

"I couldn't…" he said, and then, he let out a moan; a beautiful cry of ecstacy. Serena did not follow, her body still writhing even as his stiffened. He stayed on top of her for a while. And then his hand touched her again.

"Ohhh," she moaned, feeling herself get warmer, feeling it all happen so suddenly, like a rubber band snapping. "Ahhhh!" she cried out when she finished.

Darien fell over to the side and laid down, staring at the moon.

"That was the first time I've ever come," Serena admitted.

Darien looked over at her and smiled. "That was the first time I ever wanted to."

As the endorphins left her body, Serena felt a sadness overwhelm her.

"You're here to send me home."

"Yes," he said at long last. "I suppose I am."

"And you'll never see me again."

"Why do you say that? I will see you in battle, and now that I know the other scouts perhaps we can work together more in the future. The princess wants a crystal, you see. Maybe we can find it if we work as a team."

Serena felt a twinge of jealousy at the mention of the princess. She would always be first on his list, wouldn't she?

"But you'll never know the real me, and I'll never know the real you. Isn't that true?"

She felt him shift beside her but couldn't bear to look. "You want me to tell you who I am?"

 _I already know. You're Darien. Stupid, pained, lonely Darien, with his gruff exterior and good heart and wonderful smell._

"You wouldn't," she said.

"I would in a heartbeat if I thought it would do us any good. I am sorry for what just… for what we just did. If you felt I was in any way inappropriate…"

Serena laughed a humorless laugh. "You were entirely _too_ appropriate."

They lay in silence for a while longer before Serena spoke. "Do you think it hurts more to love someone real than it does to love a ghost?"

She thought of the dreams, and Luna.

"I don't know," Darien said. "I don't think I ever have."

"No," Serena said, "I don't think you have."

He rolled over to retrieve his hat and pulled it over his eyes while he rested. "Of course, now that I know how to call out to you…"

"Oh, nooo." Serena rolled her eyes, rather amused by Darien's jovial mood. She found herself wondering how much sex he had had in the past, just what "formally" meant exactly.

"I love you," she said at long last.

He gave her an odd look. "What about ghosts?"

"I'm tired of them; that was my goodbye. I will go back home and hug my parents and let the scouts know I'm all right."

She sat up and felt a hand on her wrist. "Stay," Darien said. "Sleep up here with me."

Serena almost protested but remembered the decent sleep she had gotten with him before.

"All right," she said, curling up onto him like she had before. If this brought back any memories, he didn't say so.

"You must be really stupid to love me," Darien said after a silence.

"You know, I think I am."


	13. Chapter 13

_The final chapter is here, you guys. I hope you review now if you haven't before – not that I particularly care, but I like my story, and I know I always decide which stories to read based on number of reviews. (Is that bad?)_

 ** _As far as reviews, I'm listening to all of you: I plan on expanding plot holes and putting in scenes I originally cut out and I will let you know when the story's updated by posting an epilogue of sorts. :D_**

 _Thanks for coming on this journey with me. There may be a sequel in the future (… or should I say, the past?). If there's any interest in that, let me know._

 _This story is dedicated to my black cat, Harry, who passed away during the writing of this fanfiction. I found catharsis through it, and I know if she could read this story, she'd probably say there weren't enough scenes of Artemis and Luna taking naps and getting pets._

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

"Happy Birthday, Serena!" a chorus greeted her. She opened her eyes to see the smiling faces of her family above her: her father, his face relaxed and so unlike how he usually looked these days; her brother, still as snot-nosed as ever, but looking kind; and, finally, her mother, looking so warm and happy and holding a cake with sparklers on it. _Cake_!

"Oh, no!" Serena cried. "Did I oversleep and miss my party?!"

"No, silly," her mother said. "I just know you've been so upset lately, I thought I would surprise you."

"Yeah, with cake for breakfast," Sammy said. "I wouldn't look at it as a gift, if I were you, Serena. She's just trying to make you fat."

Her father smacked her brother on the head. "Don't be rude! Your mother worked hard on it."

"There's still another in the fridge for tonight. But here, make a wish now before this thing burns down the house."

Everyone laughed. Serena closed her eyes.

Of course, she didn't tell her family what she wished for. And her mother brought plates and utensils to her room so Serena didn't even have to get out of bed. They ate the cake and laughed and talked.

Last night felt like a million years ago now. Tuxedo Mask's – no, _Darien's_ – warm body pressed against her, making her skin alight.

She had woken up to the sunrise. She gave the sleeping man beside her a kiss on the forehead goodbye, her mind trying not to think of the dream she had just had, or what would happen to them next. She knew he would not kiss her again, no matter his form. Some part of her had grown that night, just as some part of her had died. But, really, all in all, she felt all right.

And she didn't dream when she got home.

"Amy came by earlier and told me to give you this," her mother said, holding out a parcel.

Serena took it gently, already knowing what it was.

"See, Serena, it's backwards birthday; in the morning you get the cake and the presents and then at night everyone goes back to just wishing you would go away."

 _Smack._

"Will you two stop messing around? Now leave. Both of you. I have another gift for Serena," her mother said.

Her father and Sammy left without a word, but both looked confused.

"I didn't want to tell your father because he was always wary of Luna, but –" Serena's mother went to her closet and pulled out a carrying case. Serena heard a _mew_.

The kitten was a tabby cat – all splotches of white and orange, except for a distinct black circle around its eye. Serena wondered if she looked like that when Tuxedo Mask got her with the cane.

"Mom…" Serena could already feel the tears forming. Her mother was already crying and smiling at the same time.

"I know she's not a replacement for Luna; no one could replace her. But this kitten got separated from its home during those bad storms and she had nowhere else to go. I thought you might help her?"

Her mother held the furball in the palms of her hands. She was the size of two mom's hands, Serena internally measured. She took the kitten. At first it shook in fear, but as she stroked its back it relaxed into her arms and began purring.

"Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome, Serena. I will leave you to your day so you can get ready for tonight." Her mother went to the door and then turned to her daughter. "I'm glad you're back. I feel like you've been missing for ages."

Serena smiled. "Me, too."

When the door shut, Serena opened the package to see a brand new communicator. She hit the button to call Amy.

The blue-haired girl appeared on screen. "Happy Birthday, Serena!"

"What?" she heard Lita ask in the background. "Is she home?" Her face came into view. "Did Tuxedo Mask do the job?"

Serena blushed. "He did pass your message along, yes."

"Good. I'm glad we found a use for him." Lita disappeared and Amy was left.

"If it's all right with you, Serena, I think you should come to Raye's temple. There's a lot we need to discuss."

Serena had to bundle up to make the walk to Raye's. Even though it wasn't winter anymore, there was now a chill, and her mother had warned her to be careful that the rain may've become ice and she may slip. Sammy almost said something to that, but her mother's hand covered his mouth.

Serena promised to be back before the party.

Outside the temple stood her friends in winter gear, except for Raye, who was in her usual outfit, sweeping around the girls' feet. There was also another girl she didn't recognize, except she totally did. Her hair was swept up underneath a beanie, but it had to be her.

 _Mina._

Serena had images of pummeling the girl; or punching her pretty face again and again and again as the blood spewed from her mouth and nose. It would be just like a videogame. _Ching, ching, ching,_ up goes her score.

Instead she just smiled.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Serena," she said, holding out a mittened hand.

"No, we haven't," Mina smiled too. "I'm Mina. I ruined your cards last time, and I could tell how hard you worked on them. I felt absolutely terrible! But, here, I wanted to make it up to you. I didn't even realize I would be giving it to you on your birthday just like last time." She began to search through her bag.

"Last time?" Serena asked. None of the girls said anything as Mina pulled out a glistening crystal angel with a blue base. It was beautiful…

"Thank you," Serena said tenderly. "It's so delicate; are you sure you wanna give it to me?" she said at the same time Mina did. The other girl grinned.

"You said the exact same thing before!"

"I think she gets your point now," an unfamiliar male voice said. Serena saw a pale white cat pop its head out of Mina's purse. "I protected that thing from shattering all the way here," he said to Serena.

She leaned forward to inspect the cat. "You look like Luna," Serena said. "Are you related to her?"

Serena didn't know cats could blush, but this one did. "Luna and I knew each other long ago, and then later, and now once more. She is my best friend; nothing more."

Lita chuckled. "You know what they say about denial, Artemis!"

The cat blushed more.

"Wait a minute," Serena said. "Your name is Artemis?"

"Yes," the cat affirmed.

As if on cue, the kitten clawed its way out of Serena's own purse and up to her arm, resting on the curve of her shoulder.

"You got a new kitten!" Amy said.

"Yeah, my mom gave her to me. My mom also named her Artemis."

That caused Mina to break down into a fit of hysterics; she laughed hard as she bent forward and clutched her sides. Artemis jumped out of her bag and glared at her from the ground. "See; do you seeeee?" Mina choked out. "I told you it was a girl's name!"

"It's unisex," the cat muttered.

"Does this mean you know where Luna is?" Serena asked as her own Artemis buried its face in her neck. It almost hid the bruise forming from Tuxedo Mask – no, _Darien_ – had bit her.

"We do," Raye said, not even looking up from her sweeping. "Well, Artemis does."

The cat nodded. "Raye can help you get there."

"No offense, Mr. Artemis," Serena said. (Mina kept laughing.) "But I'm still really confused about what's going on."

Mina stood up and wiped at her eyes. "I guess I should explain that, huh?"

Mina then told her the slightly edited story she had repeated several times over the past couple of days. Serena was an attentive audience, but didn't ask any questions like the girls before her. When Mina finished, all she said was, "That makes a lot of sense."

"I still don't like the part where you went with Darien on a date," Raye grumbled.

"It wasn't much fun, I promise," Mina said. "He was very dour. Besides, I knew you liked him. I wasn't going to make any moves."

"I don't like him!" Raye threw down the broom. "I'm cold, so I'm going inside"

After she left, Lita turned to Mina. "I like how you approached each one of us. It really proves how much you missed us."

Mina smiled even bigger then. "Of course I missed you! You guys were my best friends!"

"We're still alive in this timeline," Amy said wryly.

"Who said you died?" Artemis asked her.

"Who said I didn't?"

"Touche, Amy. Always so brilliant."

"I guess I should go inside," Amy said, ignoring the cat. "I should help Raye set up."

"Er, yeah, me too," Lita said, obviously not wanting to, but sensing that Amy was trying to leave the pair of blondes alone.

Not soon after the doors shut, Mina gave Serena an inquiring stare. Artemis seemed almost to be inspecting her.

"Did he know you knew?" Serena asked. She knew she didn't need to elaborate.

"Know what?" Mina asked innocently.

"You introduced yourself to all of us. Even him."

"Oh," Mina said. "Yes, he knew I knew. He didn't know how I knew or who the hell I was, but it was a bit fun to be mysterious to him."

"When did I find out in the future?" Serena asked, trying not to sound too curious.

"After we had to hole up in the apartments. You smashed everything in the lobby."

"Mina!" Artemis interjected.

"What, she already knows the rest. I didn't tell her anything she hasn't already figured out on her own, apparently."

The cat still seemed hesitant. "Tread carefully, Mina."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that was the first time you seemed angry, and then you just sort of … stayed that way."

"Why was I angry about finding out about him?"

Mina gave her a look of pity. "I really don't know. We were all too afraid to ask."

* * *

Serena was sitting cross-legged in front of Raye's fire. "Okay, here's the thing," Raye said. "Luna is using her body to transport her subconscious somewhere.

"That's why you have the lapis lazuli." Raye pointed to the blue base of the angel. "It helps merge your subconscious and conscious. That way we won't lose you."

"Where did Luna go?" Serena asked, as the tiny Artemis nibbled on her ear cartilage.

"I think she went to the past," Artemis said from the table where he stood next to Luna's limp body. Her eyes were eerily open.

"Mina said I did this in the future, so that's where I should be. If you've any trouble, squeeze my hand and pull yourself back." Raye sat down next to her friend. "We're about to do some… What did you call it, Amy? Inter-stellar flutterations."

"That's not what I said at all, and I don't think you even tried."

Raye chuckled and grabbed Serena's hand. "Just stare into the fire. Look for Luna."

* * *

Serena's first thought was that it was beautiful. Beautiful, but dead. She was walking along a walkway made out of a type of marble, but there were cracks everywhere. Lining the path were plants, now long expired. There was a castle up ahead, made of the same white rock, but collapsed in on itself, as if the weight of the roof couldn't sustain itself. It had big pillars. It reminded Serena of those coliseums.

"Serena?" a voice called. "Is that you?"

"Luna!" she shouted, spinning around. "Luna?!"

And then, there she was. Walking towards her.

"Luna!" Serena cried. She ran to the cat and dropped to her knees, crying into the cat's fur. "I never thought I'd see you again."

"You should've had more faith, Serena. I knew you would find me eventually."

Serena pulled back and wiped her nose. "You disappeared!"

"I had to, for your safety. To figure out what was going on."

"Did you do that?"

Luna looked warmly at her friend. "Of course I did," she said. "I'm Luna."

Serena laughed and hugged the cat again.

"It was all a big mess. I got the idea when I saw Artemis working on the Negaverse networks. They were so intricately designed. One path led to another. I knew that something had happened in the past in order to cause the Sailor Scouts to form. The networks couldn't be hacked entirely because of a hole right in the center of the programming. Then I remembered what happened in the past; how the Negaverse escaped. A wormhole. Beryl made it.

"Queen Serenity sent you all through the hole. She had to be sure that the scouts would be able to protect the earth from the monsters out to suck the humans' energy. The Moon Kingdom always stood in the way of that. We are much stronger than humans."

"Moon Kingdom?"

"Yes. This is what's left of it after the war. I don't think there was a single survivor on our side. Do you see over there? That's earth."

Serena looked at the blue and green orb. "Wow," she exhaled. "So we're in the past?"

Luna sighed. "Time is very complicated. Firstly, earthling's time is not our own. They measure it based on the sun. The sun is useless to us. Secondly, you can't preserve a time, no matter how much you want to. This is a rapidly deteriorating limbo, and soon it won't exist at all."

"Raye said she should be here."

"Oh, I'm sure she was. She probably disappeared when Mina went through the path she set for her. I think Raye meant to bring her here, but instead someone meddled and sent her to the past, most assuredly to fix things."

"There's someone who can meddle with time?" Serena wondered. She imagined waking up and being fifteen again. That didn't sound so bad.

"She's a Sailor Scout of Time. She knows she's not supposed to do things like that, but that's never stopped her before."

Serena could barely contain her shock. "A Time God," she breathed.

"Yes, I suppose you could call her that, but it would probably give her a big head," Luna said. Serena was starting to gather that Luna found time-meddling tiring.

"Could she… I've been having dreams, Luna. I think of the war. Do you think she gave me those memories?"

Luna sighed. "I don't know, Serena. You could be dreaming of the war because it's still inside of you, like a soldier who cringes when he hears a loud _pop_.

"Or your internal time could be off. I didn't realize the past and future and present were all so tied together. Like so many threads, as I said before."

Luna looked sadly at the young girl. "Is that why you've been unable to sleep?" Serena nodded. Luna's face grew determined.

"I need you to see something, Serena."

Wordlessly the girl followed the cat to an odd sight. In a garden, just a little to the left of the castle, sat a pile of glittery dust underneath a floating glowing crystal. _The crystal._

"That's what the princess wants," Serena said.

"Yes, I agree. Unfortunately, as soon as you touch it, it will break off into pieces and go throughout time."

"Why on earth would I touch it?"

"The same reason you would touch it here on the moon: because it's your crystal, and your mother has kept it here, safe, until you could retrieve it."

Serena's mind seemed to freeze. _Mother_.

* * *

"Serena! Serena, wake up this instant! You are supposed to be studying with Amy!"

Serena groaned and rolled over in her bed. "I don't want to," she mumbled.

The cat jumped onto the canopy bed and clawed Serena's face.

"Owww!" Serena cried as she sat up. "Luna, what'd you do that for?"

"Because Amy took a long trip to get here, and you're being rude. She's in the sitting room with your mother now."

"Luna, look at this face. Does this look like the face of a girl who s _tudies_?"

She got clawed again.

" _Ye-ouch_! What the _hell_ is the matter with you?"

"If you would just get up, I wouldn't have to resort to such violence, if you can even call it that. I didn't leave any marks; don't worry about your pretty face."

"Luna, sometimes I forget why I love you," Serena said as she put her feet on the floor. The cat seemed amused.

"Me too, Serena. Now hurry and get dressed."

There were girls to dress her. One girl tightened her corset and another girl did her hair. She realized she didn't know their names, and she didn't particularly care to.

When she entered the study she smiled brightly at the blue-haired girl, and her mother, who looked so regal with her silver hair done in the traditional lunar hairstyle.

 _Mother._

"Hello, Serena," Queen Serenity greeted her with warm eyes. "Did you have a good rest?"

* * *

"I remember," Serena said. She dropped to her knees in front of the pile of silver sand and ran her fingers through it. "Why didn't you tell me I was the princess?"

"I didn't know for sure," Luna said as she placed her paw on Serena's knee. "I couldn't remember who the princess was at all. Your mother's spell must've allotted for us to get used to the idea."

Serena watched the dust trickle through her fingers and fade into nothingness. She wanted to cry.

"Your mother has been dead for hundreds of years, Serena," Luna said. "You have another mother now."

"Was I always such a bitch when I was a princess?" she asked. Luna laughed.

"You were just spoiled. You were waited on hand and foot from the time you were born. I remembered the first day I lost it with you, I thought for sure you would call for my beheading. Instead, you seemed to respect me. I was the only one who didn't coddle you. Prince Darien was rather harsh with you, too, if I remember correctly."

"He was too stupid to ever realize he was wrong," Serena said without thinking. Luna laughed. Serena blushed. "I don't remember Darien being a prince."

"I'm sure it will all come back in time. And that's something we have plenty of. It will take a lot of work to find the pieces of the crystal."

 _Would Princess Serena be childish enough to torment a man in his dreams for years on end?_

"I'm glad I am not the princess anymore," Serena said at long last, and then she touched the floating crystal. She felt a bolt of electricity and then opened her eyes.

* * *

"Serena, are you all right?"

"Serena, why didn't you squeeze my hand?"

"Serena, what did you see?"

"Here, have some water."

Amy. Raye. Mina. Lita. They all stood above her, looking worried and curious in equal turns.

"I'm fine, you guys." She sat up. "Luna, how are you?"

"I am as good as new, Serena," the cat said as she hopped into Serena's lap. She stared at kitten Artemis warily. "Who is this?"

"She's your replacement," Mina said as she scratched the kitten behind the ears. "Isn't she cute?"

Luna puffed up her chest. "I don't think I warrant a replacement. Especially now that we know how to defeat the Negaverse."

That caught the girls' attention. Luna seemed to want Serena to explain it all, and so she did, even what she now remembered of the bloody massacre that had killed them all. Raye, surprisingly, knew a lot about the war, too. The only part Serena left out was the slight detail that she was the princess.

"It's called the Silver Imperial Crystal," Luna said, "and it is the most powerful magical artifact in the entire universe. Now we have to find it before Beryl does."

The girls decided to put off saving the world for one last day. Artemis had begrudgingly agreed to it, but Luna had been the one to say it was a good idea. It was Serena's birthday, and it was now starting to snow outside. The girls made snow angels and snowmen.

Mina explained to Serena that she was Sailor V, and Serena pestered her with questions of her adventures. Unfortunately, Mina had to explain yet again that she had no recollection of working on her own, and she doubted she would ever get those memories back. It was almost as if time had erased vigilante Mina so that the grizzled Mina who had seen a dark future could live. She hoped the other Mina was okay, wherever she was.

Serena was having so much fun, she was almost put out when Amy reminded her that they needed to head to her house soon in order to decorate for the party.

* * *

"Do it!"

"Come on, just bite with your teeth a little more!"

"Yes, right there, that's the spot!"

"Harder, you little wimp of a man!"

"Lita," Molly asked, "is that really all that necessary? I mean, Melvin's trying as hard as he can."

Melvin was the smartest kid in the class, but he was woefully inept at bobbing for apples. Serena felt anxious, but she wasn't sure why. She wanted to go back up to her bedroom and just stay there for the rest of the night, but her mother kept bringing her bowls of green sherbet. _Damn that woman_ , she thought as she clenched her fist.

"You doing all right, Serena?" Mina asked. Even though she knew Serena had only known her for less than a day, she had taken to acting like they were best friends. Not that Serena minded it; there were worse people to be best friends with than Sailor V.

"I'm just waiting for more ice cream," Serena said, "but my mom keeps talking to everybody else."

"Well, how about I give you another present then?"

"Another one? Didn't you already give me the angel? And besides, we're not doing presents until later."

" _Trust me_ ," Mina said with a smirk. "This is a present you'll like."

She held out what appeared to be a cola bottle. Serena raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"A delicious calorie-filled beverage, of course," Mina said. "It's yours. Maybe it will tide you over until you get more sweets."

Serena still felt suspicious, and when she took a sip and detected a slight hint of coconut and a warmth in the back of her throat, she knew what it was. "You put booze in this," Serena accused her with a smile.

"Oh, did I do that accidentally?" Mina asked with a grin. "I'm so clumsy." She then winked and gave a salute before walking over to the sofa where Raye was talking to a few boys from Serena's school.

Artemis was still on her shoulder, and when the cat mewed like she wanted some of the drink, Serena wagged her finger. "Nah uh uh," she said. "This is for mama." She took another few sips – rather large ones, to be honest with herself. She was starting to feel pretty good. She saw why Darien liked the stuff so much. She then wondered if he was indulging tonight, sitting alone in his apart—

Serena's thoughts screeched to a halt.

 _Crisis situation._

Darien was coming here. To her house. With Andrew.

 _"Sailor Moon, I assure you, I'm not here to get your identity. I don't know this neighborhood. I will never remember this house."_

Darien had been to this house before!

She had been so busy being anxious about running into him at the arcade, knowing all of his identities, him knowing none of hers, her loving him for he who he was, and he, well, _not_ …

But he was coming here.

There was a ring at the door.

"Oh, shit!" Serena exclaimed, and then she ran up the stairs to her room and barricaded herself inside, not caring in that instance what her party-goers thought.

* * *

Darien stood next to Andrew on Serena's porch. He held his wrapped parcel in his hands, and Andrew held the pink stuffed bunny in front of her face.

"Do you think Serena will get a kick out of it if I just pop out from behind the bunny? You know, say surprise?"

"Maybe if she were turning _six_ ," Darien said. He was wearing his sunglasses again, even though it was night out.

A pretty woman with frizzy blue hair answered the door. "Oh, well, hello, gentlemen. You must be here for Serena's party."

"That's right, Mrs. Tsukino, we've actually met before. I'm Andrew." He held out one hand while gripping onto the bunny with the other.

"Oh, yes, that's right! From the arcade!"

"Yeah, and this is Darien. He's a friend of Serena's, too."

"Well, I am so glad Serena has such nice friends." Her mother beamed. "You can leave your presents for her on the table."

The men stepped inside and Darien took a quick look around. He recognized several of the party-goers as regulars at the arcade, but he was surprised to see Raye on the couch with Mina.

"Hey, look at that, Darien, it must be fate that she's here. Too bad you're in love with Serena. Mina's a _model_."

"Will you cut it out with the jokes?" Darien snarled. His eyes looked around the room again. Meatball wasn't anywhere to be seen. He wondered if she planned on making some grand entrance for her sweet sixteen. Darien considered putting his paper-wrapped parcel on the table but decided against it. Andrew's assessment must've been the same as everyone else's – there did seem to be a large amount of pink.

"I'm sure she'll love it," Andrew said as if reading his mind. "You did pick it out specially for her and all." Darien glared. "Because of the love." Andrew smirked. He looked back to Mina. "I really can't believe she's here, though. Such a small world."

"Hello, Andrew, Darien," Amy said as she approached the boys. Her gaze went over to where they were looking. "Oh, that's right. You've already met Mina. She's new in town, and she and Serena became fast friends."

"Uh oh, Darien, Mina might've gossiped to Serena about you. So many blondes to choose from."

"I'm going to punch you right in the mouth."

"Is that appropriate in front of a young lady?" Andrew asked, tilting his head to Amy.

"I'm starting to think coming to a teenager's birthday party was a bad idea," Darien groaned.

"Darien, I think there are some refreshments in the kitchen. Would you like to accompany me?" Amy asked.

"Amy, don't add yourself to his list."

"Yes, Amy, I will go with you. Finally sounds like the opportunity for some _decent conversation_ ," he said pointedly to his friend. Andrew just laughed and went to join the throng of kids around the couch.

Amy led the way to the kitchen. There were, in fact, many snacks to choose from, but he knew that wasn't why Amy had asked him here. She wasn't just going to come out with it, though. That wasn't her style.

"What did you want to ask me?" he started.

Amy hopped up onto the counter. (She had been given a drink by Mina, as well.) "Well, Andrew's teasing seems to indicate that he's noticed that you and Serena have become friends."

"He's not really subtle about it."

"Well I noticed it, too. I knew she wasn't telling me something." Amy sipped on her drink. "This morning she came clean about her nightmares."

Darien was surprised. Serena had always seemed against telling the girls. "I'm glad she finally confided in you. She was bottling too much up."

"But what about you, Darien Shields," Amy said.

"What about me?"

"I just guessed that the dreams were what you two discussed, and you confirmed it for me. Thanks, by the way. And from there, I can only guess you told her something in return." Amy looked at him very seriously. "What have you been dreaming about?"

Darien tried to keep his face stoic. "What makes you think I told her something in return?"

Amy shrugged. "Like I said, I've just been guessing lately. But I seem to be doing pretty well at it."

"What do you want to know?"

"If your dreams had any relevance to her dreams."

Darien exhaled a breath he hadn't been realizing he had been holding. "Oh, no … My dreams are nothing like Meatball Head's. We both just found it really hard to sleep."

Amy looked at him as if he were a puzzle. "I guess that makes sense." She jumped down from the counter. "I just figured I'd ask."

Amy made to leave the kitchen, and Darien almost had to hide embarrassment at asking, "Do you know where she is? She's missing her own party."

"She ran up to her room about the time you and Andrew arrived. Maybe you can find her upstairs." Then she left.

In that moment Darien desperately wished he had his flask on him. He remembered Serena pouring it down the drain, looking so defiant. He had started to bring it to the party, imagining (and, from what it looked like, guessing correctly) that the party would be dreadfully dull. But he had left it. Because he knew Serena wouldn't want him to bring it.

 _Jeez_ , he thought. _In between the princess and Sailor Moon, you've already got too many blondes. Andrew wasn't wrong about that._

His thoughts flashed back to the night before. Of Sailor Moon ripping off his sleeve. What would he say when he saw her next? He would have to pretend nothing had happened, of course. They couldn't ever really be allies, and they certainly couldn't be lovers. Aside from all that, he didn't even know her. She had been right about that.

But he did know Serena. He tightened his grip on his parcel. He would give her her stupid gift and ask her if she was all right, and then he would bail. He was feeling pretty great himself, aside from the sadness of knowing he would never get to touch Sailor Moon again. He had the best night's sleep he had in years. The princess didn't bother him at all, and he didn't even worry about it. He briefly wondered if getting laid was really all it took to get rid of her. It would have been nice of her to tell him that.

He made his way up the stairs, which were dark and led to an even darker hallway.

"Use the bathroom downstairs," Serena's voice said from somewhere in the back.

"Serena?" he asked.

"Darien?!" she practically screeched. "What are you doing here?"

He couldn't help but chuckle. "You invited me, remember?"

"I meant upstairs. You should go back down. You should go have fun."

"I actually think I might leave. I don't really feel all that comfortable here."

"Yeah, you do that," she said far too quickly.

"Serena," he asked, stepping forward. "Are you sure you're all right?"

He found her sitting cross-legged in front of a closed door. There was light coming out from underneath. In glittery pink letters the door said: Serena's Room (So Stay Out, Sammy.)

"I'm fine. I just wish you weren't here."

He was surprised by that. "Me, or anybody?"

"You," she said. That confused him even more.

"Look up at me, will you? I can barely see anything." He took off his shades and slid them into his pocket. "I wanted to give you your present before I left. Will you at least take it?"

Serena didn't move her gaze up from her lap.

"Okay, now you're really worrying me," Darien said. He crouched down to look at her. "What about you? Why don't you go downstairs and have fun?"

"Because I can't have any fun as long as you're here."

Darien stood and scratched his head. "Serena… I'm really lost. Were you offended that I made you leave with Andrew? You could've stayed if you wanted, I just figured you wouldn't want to. I didn't do anything but sit around drinking. Oh, is that it? The drinking? I'm sober right now. I figured since you didn't like it, I'd be sober for your party. How about that?"

"Here," Serena said holding a bottle out to him. "I'm not sober, and you shouldn't be, either."

Darien took the cola and sipped. "Why are you telling me to drink?"

"Because someone once told me that everything is connected. And I know that you're not going to leave until you figure out what's going on. And I don't want to see what happens when you do. I don't want to see the look on your face."

"You're not making any sense, Meatball. Here, take the rum back. It's your party; you should be getting smashed, not me."

"They're going to notice I'm missing soon. I was able to leave because Melvin finally got the apple. But my mom's probably looking and then she'll come up here. It's going to happen before she gets up here."

"What's going to happen?" Darien suddenly started to fear that Serena's dreams might've been something latent in her. "You're not going to hurt yourself, are you?"

Serena drank from the bottle. "No, nothing like that. Well, unless breaking my heart counts."

 _Break her heart?_

"You think … Me?"

"I don't know if you really don't know or if you're just trying to torture me."

"I'm not doing anything except trying to figure out what's going on. Here," he handed her the present. "It's nothing special. It's from that shop."

"Don't tell me you got me that damn book," Serena said, and there was humor there, so Darien felt free to laugh.

"No, I, uh, went back. After we left town, and you went home. I don't know why, but I did. And I got it for you. So… I mean, just open it all right?"

There was the sound of ripping paper.

"There was actually someone there this time. She really did look like a witch. She talked about magic and all this stuff. But I told her I was interested in the rocks. She said that one does stuff like fidelity and spirituality and protection. I figured you might need it. You can't really see it in the dark, but it's a pretty cool blue color."

He felt pretty lame at that point, so he figured he should just stop talking. Serena laughed. "It's lapis lazuli."

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Because everything's interconnected. I told you that earlier. I guess the moment of truth is here." Serena stood up, and maybe it was because she was in the dark, but she looked older and wiser in the moment. "I want to preface by saying that I realized I was in love with you last night."

Darien didn't know what to say to that, because his mind went blank.

"Don't worry about talking," Serena said, sounding strong and not like someone who had just been moping in front of her bedroom door. "I don't want you to say something stupid."

She turned to the door and opened it. "Here," she said, bowing her head and waving her arm toward the room. "Take a look around. Tell me if you see anything interesting."

* * *

Serena could tell from the look on Darien's face as he walked into her room that he recognized everything. He just stood there for a while, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. All things considered, he took it better than Serena assumed she would in his case.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?" he said at long last. "It looks just like a room to me."

"Really? Just a room?"

"Yeah. You have a lot of toys, but it's pretty much how I imagined your room being."

"You imagined my room?" Serena laughed humorlessly. She goes to her bed and grabs her star pillow and tossed it to him. "I remember you liking that one."

He looked at the pillow like it was an alien attached to his hands. "It's, uh, a very nice pillow."

"That's really all you've got to say? It's a nice pillow? Don't you get what we've been doing for the past few weeks? We've been beating the crap out of each other. We've been messing with each other's heads."

Still, he said nothing. He just kept his gaze on the damned pillow. "Oh, drop that thing!" Serena exclaimed, ripping it from his hands. "Say something now. I'm fully prepared for your stupid!"

Serena did not expect to be pushed with such force into her bedroom door that it slammed shut behind her, and she wasn't prepared for Darien's mouth to assault hers with almost as much power behind it. She melted into the kiss. The kiss she never thought she'd ever have again.

But then she pulled away. "What are you doing?" He felt so warm against her.

"I don't really know, to be honest. It was the first thing to come to mind."

"You're just kissing me because I am Sailor Moon."

There. She had said it.

"You're only letting me because I am Tuxedo Mask."

He said it, too.

"No," she said. "I think I would've let you, even if it was just you and your stupid face."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because I love you, you stupid, insufferable nit—"

He cut her off with another kiss. He pulled away.

"I wish you'd stop doing that," she said. She met Darien's eyes. He looked amused.

"Do you find this funny?"

"I find it funny that I'm an emotionally-stunted trainwreck and you're the one who doesn't get what's going on here."

"And just what am I missing?"

He kissed her neck, and she tried not to let his mouth's machinations distract her.

"Why do you say you love me?" he whispered into her ear.

"Because I love you. Because I know you. Because you're an emotionally-stunted trainwreck, and I got a front row seat and it just made me like you more."

He just kept kissing her. What the hell was wrong with him? She had been expecting many things – anger, storming off; laughter, right in her face; demands to know what the hell what was going on _right now_ – not this. Not his left hand sliding up her thigh and his right hand grabbing at her ass.

She wanted to be strong enough to push him off, but she simply wasn't. Her will was weak. And she liked kissing him.

"Stupid Andrew," Darien whispered when he finally pulled away for air. He spoke into her lips. "I don't like him sometimes."

"Why are you talking about Andrew?"

"Because he's been teasing me about you for years and this these past couple of days, he was at his worst. Serena, I've never…" He looked into her eyes, and she saw an unease. "Serena, I've never bought anyone a birthday present before."

It's such a vulnerable admission of something so silly she can't help but giggle and then kiss him softly. "No wonder you have no friends," she said.

"I'm absolutely wretched."

"You're a real downer."

"I'm really self-obsessed."

"You're vain."

"Am not."

"Are too. You spend far too much time on your hair."

"You noticed that I do, though, didn't you? I'd say it worked."

He kisses her harder then, and she bangs her head against the door. It almost feels like they're dueling again. This time she does push him back and they fall onto her bed. "I like this," Serena said from atop him. "You look defenseless."

He growls and flips her over and continues with the kissing. By the time, he starts to unbutton her shirt, she grabs his hands. "Stop," she said. "I really meant what I said about my mom coming to look for me. Or it might be Luna. Or my dad, and he will literally kill you."

"You cat?"

"Focus on the dad part, Darien."

He pulled himself off of her and sat on the edge of the bed like he had the first time he had been in her room. He grabbed the star pillow and put it back in his lap, looking quite put out.

Serena laughed, but then sobered. "What about the princess?"

"What about her?"

"You've been seeing her for years." Serena felt her fears return. "You're supposed to save her. That's all you've wanted."

"The princess is gone."

"What do you mean, she's gone?"

"She left last night. I don't think she's coming back."

"But you didn't … You didn't find her."

"No." Darien then smiled at her. A real smile, a smile she wasn't sure she had ever seen from him before. "I didn't find her at all. Isn't it great?"

Serena smiled too. She joined him on the edge of the bed and slowly, feeling afraid again, reached for his hand. She smiled wider when his fingers interlocked with her own.

"Meatball, hypothetically speaking, how long do you think we have until someone comes looking for you?"

"Hypothetically, probably a couple of more minutes at most."

Darien looked at his naked wrist. "I think we can work with that."

* * *

Lita found the other girls in the kitchen, now being very brazen, with Mina straight up pouring Amy and Raye shots from her bottle of rum directly into their plastic cups.

"Do you guys know where Serena is? Everyone's having fun now that Mina's been giving out drinks so generously, and even her mom and dad are drinking wine. But we're supposed to do the candle thing, right?"

"You worry too much," Amy said, not sounding much like herself at all. "She's upstairs with Darien right now."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Raye crushed her cup with her hand causing rum to spill all over her red dress. "You all know who he is, don't you?"

The girls exchanged looks.

Lita sighed. "Do we all know he's Mask Boy, or what?"

"I was just guessing," Amy said, motioning for Mina to pour her some more.

"I've known it for a long time," Mina said, obliging her friend's request. "Depending on how you look at it."

"Well, I didn't figure it out until he told me he would choose Sailor Moon over the princess," Lita said. "I thought I was finally going to one-up Amy on something."

"They're probably having sex right now. On her birthday and everything," Raye said morosely. "Here, give me some more."

"I guess that explains their weird connection," Amy said.

"It explains a helluva lot," Lita said.

"It doesn't really explain how these cats can talk," a male voice said.

The girls turned to see Andrew holding Luna and Artemis in opposite arms, with kitten Artemis on his head. "But you don't seem as shocked to figure out Darien's identity as you should be."

"It appears, girls," Luna said, "that we've been found out."

"Andrew!" Lita exclaimed. "You knew about Darien this whole time?"

"Yeah, and I knew he liked Serena. I went to go check on them when I found these two chattering in the hall. I thought there might've been more than just alcohol Mina slipped me, but now I think I've got the basic gist of things. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"You most certainly will not," Artemis told him harshly. "If you do, you will be disposed of."

Andrew looked frightened. "You girls wouldn't dispose of me, would you?"

"Of course not, Andrew! You're going to help us a lot!" Mina cheered. Noticing the other girls' looks, she amended, "That's not really a comment on the future; this didn't happen before. I'm just trying to stay positive."

"I needed to tell Serena that I figured out a way to retrieve the things we need, but she seemed preoccupied," Luna said.

"I told you, we should've busted down the door," Artemis said.

"And I told you it's her birthday, and I just wanted to give her a day to be a normal girl. Nothing for her will be normal from here on out."

"If you're trying to keep your secret identities as cats, you really shouldn't bicker as much," Andrew said, placing all three cats tenderly on the floor. "Take my advice; I'll be your Alfred."

"I'm not sure what that means," Luna said. "But I've always trusted you, Andrew; that's why I felt safe using your facility, and I am not worried you will cause us trouble. I say we give Serena and Darien twenty more minutes."

"What?!" Raye and Artemis said.

"Yeah, give them at least thirty," Andrew said.

"I agree with Luna," Amy said.

"I agree with Andrew," Mina said.

* * *

Serena and Darien got fifteen more minutes, and they discovered that without their costumes, throwing themselves around hurt a bit more, but on the plus side, they could remove much more clothing.

And for the first time in a long time, Serena felt alive.


End file.
